Insecurity: DSS dismisses reports of terrorists’ movement, attacks on luxury buses in Abuja

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Friday dismissed the reports being circulated on social media that the service had alerted the public about the movement of terrorists into the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and other parts of the country, describing the reports as false and fake news.

In a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by its Spokesman, Dr Peter Afunanya, the service also debunked reports that luxury buses of three major transport companies were hijacked on the Lokoja-Okene Road by terrorists.

It stated that the alert purportedly issued by the service on the arrival of Boko Haram and other terrorist elements to the aforementioned places had been in circulation since 2013 when it was first created by mischief makers whose handiwork was to cause chaos in the country.

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According to the statement, “similarly, the report concerning an alleged attack on the luxury buses conveying a particular ethnic group to their local base was first created some years back to deceive and incite unsuspecting persons

“The public is urged to disregard these fallacious narratives and reports in their entirety. As fake news that they are, the DSS wishes to dismiss them as non-existent and therefore describe them as a figment of the imagination of their creators

“The illusive stories are merely designed by some zealots to instigate ethnoreligious and political crises of violent and destructive dimensions across the country

“It has, however, become obvious that the main aim of engaging in these undesirable actions is to also undermine national security for the achievement of some ulterior goals

“The service frowns at the continuous exploitation of social, religious and tribal differences by purveyors of doom to ignite extreme violent actions among the populace

“While security and law enforcement agencies are totally committed to sustaining maximum efforts in ensuring public safety in the Nation, citizens are enjoined to disregard these deceitful reports that do not emanate from the service and go about their normal businesses.

“Considering that security is a collective responsibility of all and sundry, everyone is advised to be more committed in this regard and report suspicious persons to relevant security agencies nearest to them”.

The statement assured that “the service will continue to collaborate with sister agencies to ensure adequate protection for the people, government and critical infrastructure. It will also not fail to make defaulters face, within the ambit of the law, consequences of their illicit activities”.