The Police in Niger State have vehemently debunked claims of a bandit leader, Dogo Geide that he has become governor of the state.
The Police Command in a statement affirmed that no bandit is a “governor” in the state.
The police assertion followed news reports in which the bandit leader, Dogo Geide, had announced himself to be the governor of Niger State.
According to the reports, Geide had called for allegiance from communities around his area of operation assuring them that their security would be guaranteed under him.
Niger State is one of the areas affected by the insurgency and was the place where more than 20 soldiers were killed during an operation and rescue effort recently. The burial of the soldiers took place on Friday in Abuja.
Reacting to the assertion of the bandit leader, spokesman for the Command, Wasiu Abiodun, in a statement on Friday said that the assertion of the bandit governor only existed in his imagination.
“Niger State Police Command wishes to respond to a publication circulating in some social media platforms that “Notorious bandit declared self as Governor in Niger State.
“The command wishes to state categorically with all sense of responsibility that such publication is false in its entirety, and it only exists in the figment of the imagination of the author.
“The joint security teams in the state in collaboration with the State Government are working assiduously to address the security challenges at hand, while tactical teams are placed at strategic locations within the volatile areas for security coverage,” Abiodun stated.
The Niger State police spokesman as such called on members of the public to ignore such publications of Dogo Geide as governor, saying it was an attempt by mischief makers to cause panic through propaganda.
Abiodun also urged the media to be desist from helping the propaganda of the bandits.