DSS dismisses reports about terrorist movements in FCT, others

The Department of State Services (DSS) has dismissed alleged reports being circulated on the social media that the Service had alerted Nigerians about the movement of terrorists into the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) and other parts of Southern, Middlebelt regions and to attack luxury buses.

It said the alert purportedly issued by the Service on the arrival of Boko Haram and other terrorist elements to the aforementioned places has been in circulation since 2013 when it was first created by mischief makers whose handiwork is to cause chaos.

But reacting to the development, Public Relations Officer of the DSS, Peter Afunanya in a statement yesterday said another misleading report relates to the alleged hijack of luxury buses of three major transport companies on the Lokoja-Okene road by persons suspected to be championing an ethnic agenda.

Afunanya added that the report concerning the alleged attack on the luxury buses conveying a particular ethnic group to their local base was first created some years back to deceive and incite unsuspecting persons.

The statement reads in part: “The public is urged to disregard these fallacious narratives and reports in their entirety.

“Like fake news that they are, the DSS wishes to dismiss them as non-existent and therefore describe them as a figment of the imagination of their creators. The illusive stories are merely designed by some zealots to instigate ethno-religious and political crises of violent and destructive dimensions across the country.

“It has, however, become obvious that the main aim of engaging in these undesirable actions is to also undermine national security for the achievement of some ulterior goals.