Police on Tuesday dismissed as misleading, stories making the rounds that four terrorists entered the Grace of God Church, Onitsha, Anambra on Sunday in an effort to bomb the place.
Police spokesperson in Anambra, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, stated in Awka that a Facebook post by one Chinasa Nworu that terrorists sneaked into the church was meant to mislead the public.
Nworu had claimed in the post that suspected terrorists burnt a congregant, while three others fled into a nearby military barracks just as they were still holding others to ransom.
“The post was not only false, but a complete mischievous scheme to cause tension in the state by inciting ethnic, and or religious hatred and conflict.
“The police will not allow bad elements in any guise to distract the peace enjoyed in the state,” he stated.
Ikenga explained that the police received a distress call on Sunday that one criminal was set ablaze in an area of the town.
“Police operatives made enquiries on arrival at the scene and gathered that the victim was a criminal caught in an attempt to rob someone he was lynched by an angry mob,” he stated.
He added that there was no military barracks close to where the incident happened.
“It was just a mischievous and sensational reaction by the Facebook user to achieve his selfish desire from the unfortunate incident; that is why he posted the write-up without effort at verification of the facts,’’ he added.
Ikenga stressed that the police had always condemned mob action whenever an arrest was made in respect for any crime.
He quoted the Commissioner of Police, Mr Echeng Echeng, as ordering an investigation of the Facebook user, describing the post as unfortunate and one capable of misinforming and misleading the public.
