The Kwara State Police Command has dismissed claims of a kidnappers den in the state.
According to the command, those mistaken for kidnappers in Oko-Erin community in the state capital, Ilorin, were network marketers of the popular GNLD brand.
The command made the clarification In a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Ajayi Okasanmi on Sunday in reaction to recent social speculations that a kidnappers den had been uncovered in the community.
The statement quoted the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, as explaining that the 12 victims who were allegedly rescued in the hands of suspected kidnappers in the area have denied being abducted.
The victims were aged between 16 and 30 years, according to the statement.
Egbetokun said that the alleged victims, in their separate statements, confirmed to the police that they were not kidnapped as being insinuated.
But the statement confirmed that the police had earlier received information from the residents of Oko-Erin community that there was a group of people suspected to be kidnappers in their area.
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“The precedence to this information is that one Rukayat Wahab, who was said to have been missing when she was sent on an errand by her mother.
“And in the course of her mother searching for her, she was found in the company of the said group of people, who explained that they were networking marketers of GNLD products.
“The alarm raised by her mother in the course of these events, attracted the attention of many persons, from whom the story of the people being suspected kidnappers, emanated.
“On receipt of the information at the police station, detectives from ‘B’ Division, Surulere, promptly moved to the scene, which was the house of the suspected kidnappers.
“The suspects were immediately taken to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Surulere, along with the purported victims of the said kidnap.
“The investigations, however, revealed that the people were, in fact, marketers of the popular GNLD brand, who were carrying out networking training for interested members of the public.
“The said Rukayat had, on collecting one of their marketing flyers, abandoned her errand and joined the training exercise.
“This led to her mother’s assumption that she was missing and the ensuing misunderstanding and consequent events.
“The matter has therefore been resolved,” the statement read in part.
Egbetokun assured that police would continue to carry out its duties to maximum capacity in ensuring that the state remains safe for people to live, work and visit.
According to him, social media platforms were equally advised to verify their stories all the time before going public.
He thanked the people of the state for their support and the commitment to the philosophy of community policing in the state.