The Nigeria Police has called on the public to discountenance reports of arrest of some individuals over manipulation of the Bi-Modal Voters Accreditation System (BVAs) machines in Maitama area of Abuja.The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, made the call in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said the call followed trending news in some sections of the media over the arrest of some individuals by the police in Abuja, with electoral materials and some BVAs machines.
Adejobi said operatives of the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) had visited the location, interviewed the occupants and conducted a search on the house following a report by residents of the area of suspicious activities.
According to him, in the course of the search, some electoral materials and BVAs machines were discovered in their possession.
“When contacted, the Independent National Electoral Commission, confirmed that the occupants of the house are staff of Emperor Technology, outsourcing engineering services to INEC and were immediately released,” he said.
He said the report was a false and misconstrued narrative, and therefore, called on the public to discountenance it.
Adejobi urged reporters and media houses to endeavor to carry out due diligence and ascertain the veracity of information before spreading, to avoid being victims of the “breaking news syndrome”.
He called on the public to avoid the creation and spread of misinformation and disinformation that could cause disaffection between the populace and state actors.
A circulating video had earlier shown the hands of two men opening packages containing the machines.
Nigerians are reacting angrily, wondering why their faces were not shown. Some dismissed the video as a plot to shift attention from the controversial presidential results.
