The Kaduna State Government has dismissed a news reporti in the Punch newspaper of March 9, 2024 “outrightly mischievous and false”.
The report had stated that the state government had hired a private negotiator to facilitate the safe return of school children abducted in Kuriga community, Chikun Local Government of the state.
However, Muhammad Lawal Shehu, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor of Kaduna State, Sa’id in a press release today: “We wish to state categorically that the Kaduna State Government did not hire any private negotiator, neither are we contemplating make such a move.
“The hiring of a private negotiator only exists in the fertile imagination of the Punch Newspaper reporter. The Kaduna State Government has a clear policy on non-negotiation with terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements.
“We urge members of the Press to be cautious in the way they craft and publicise their stories on security in order not to jeopardize the efforts of government and security agencies in degrading criminal elements laying siege to our communities.
“If the Punch newspaper had made efforts to contact the Kaduna State Government, they would have gotten the correct information. The Press are our partners in progress. Our doors are always open.”