The Nigerian Police Force has urged Nigerians to disregard reports of impending terror attacks in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and other parts of the country.
Claims are that it's to instill fear into Nigerians. Police spokesperson Olamuyiwa Adejobi said this in a statement on Saturday.
Adejobi described reading on social media and in the news that bombs had been planted in every area of the FCT as disheartening and surprising, particularly by people ostensibly serving as peace ambassadors and patriotic agents of national unity in Nigeria.
Police Says Terror Alerts Were Sponsored To Create Fear
He noted that news like this would not do any good to the country but create more panic among residents and citizens of the FCT and Nigeria.
He said, "We urge residents of the FCT and Nigeria to disregard the fake news going around, which was purportedly sponsored to create fear in our people and heat the polity."
He reiterated that Abuja was safe and there was no imminent threat. He added that the FCT had not been saturated with bombs as speculated in the news.
Adejobi said the Nigerian police would continue to adopt all effective operational strategies to decimate non-state actors and other criminal activities in the country.
There has been fear and tension among Nigerians across the country, especially residents of the FCT. However, the Nigerian President has also urged Nigerians not to panic, assuring security operatives were on the situation.
There were reports that security operatives led by the American Army and the Department of State Service (DSS) arrested some suspected terrorists at the Trademore Estate in Lugbe Abuja.
A joint operation launched in the early hours of Friday by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the police, the DSS, and other security agencies successfully dismantled a terror cell.
Thirty fighters and five commanders of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) were reportedly detained. The suspected terrorists were apprehended at their hideouts across the FCT.
