Nasarawa Police Speak on Rumoured Fulani Herdsmen Invasion of Church Crusade
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering security matters in Nigeria and Africa.
Lafia, Nasarawa state - The Nasarawa state police command on Tuesday morning, November 25, said it is not aware of any incident of Fulani herdsmen invading and disrupting a church crusade in Agboda village.
Legit.ng reports that a video circulating online showed a man speaking, with some people gathered in a rowdy environment. According to the man, "a serious uproar" occured in Agboda community.
The incident, said to have occurred on Monday evening, November 24.
However, when Legit.ng reached out to Ramhan Hansel, the Nasarawa state police spokesperson, for comments, he said security agents have no idea where the reported attack happened.
He said:
"There is no report of such incident in any of the police stations in Nasarawa state."
He asked this reporter the name of the church where the rumoured attack happened and was told that those spreading the claim on X (formerly Twitter) alleged that the event was "a church crusade."
Hansel replied:
"Kindly advise them to visit the nearest police station and report and we will take it up from them. Or, kindly get the proper name of the village so that we can send our men to find out."
Insecurity: Disinformation poses growing challenge
Legit.ng reports that a surge in militant attacks and instability in northern Nigeria is attracting foreign attention.
Violence has escalated lately, with attacks by terrorists known locally as bandits and insurgents including al-Qaeda affiliate Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which carried out its first strike in Nigeria in October, and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
Recent incidents underscore the crisis: ISWAP fighters killed a brigadier-general in the northeast, while armed bandits abducted more than 300 Catholic school students in a mass kidnapping days after storming a public school, killing a deputy head teacher and seizing 25 schoolgirls.
Amid the worries over security, Nigeria is currently experiencing an intensified wave of disinformation. The scourge intensified in recent weeks across the country’s information space as people attempt to make sense of the nation's complex security crisis.
"In trying to explain or defend different positions, some commentators end up amplifying fresh propaganda, and the result has been messy," Johnstone Kpilaakaa, a conflict reporter, said.
Read more on Nigeria's security challenges:
- Insecurity: Nigerian police take new action in Kano border
- Top 10 causes of insecurity in Nigeria and solutions to them
- Senate urges President Tinubu to approve 100,000 military recruitment to confront insecurity
Insecurity: Ayodele names those Tinubu must arrest
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Primate Elijah Ayodele, leader of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Lagos, called on President Bola Tinubu to work on arresting politicians who allegedly finance terrorism; otherwise, insecurity would not end in Nigeria.
Primate Ayodele stated that all efforts to curb insecurity will be wasted if the financiers are not immediately arrested and dealt with.
Source: Legit.ng
