The Osun state police command has denied reports making the rounds that a commercial driver in the state recently sold eighteen of his passengers to kidnappers.

 

The false claim that was circulated via WhatsApp read;

 

“People of Nigeria. If your relative was missing early this morning 19/07/2021 travelling from Abuja down to Lagos/lbadan (passing through Kabba/Ekiti)a driver had been arrested this evening at Ilesa Ibadan express road with full loading of luggage but the whole of eighteen passengers had been sold to the kidnappers along Ita-Ore road in Ekiti State.

Now the driver is in the police custody at Ijamo Ilesa Osun State. Please kindly send this message as received. The plate number of this  bus is KPA116LG Kogi State black color.Thanks”

 

Debunking the claim, the spokesperson of the state police command, SP Opalola Yemisi Olawoyin, said there was no such case reported in Ijamo, nor any other Police Station in Osun State.

 

In a statement released, Olawoyin said;

”The news is false and mischievous. What really happened was that a driver abandoned his good samaritan passengers who offered to rescue some victims at a scene of an accident at Efon Alaye on their way from Abuja, and took to hiding with his vehicle at a point near Ilesa.

 

He was however accosted, upon information from Ijamo Policemen by a Police Patrol Team led by DPO Efon Alaye Division.The Driver thereafter was taken to Efon Alaye, the neighboring Ekiti State Command with the vehicle, being the jurisdiction in which the incident occurred.

Osun State Police Command therefore urges the general public to disregard the news, and wishes to warn against the spread or peddling of fake and unconfirmed stories in future, as such could not only instill fear in the members of the public, but also create unnecessary panic, tension and commotion in the land.”