The Nasarawa State Police Command and the proprietor of St. Peter’s Foundation Secondary School have dismissed reports alleging the abduction of students from the school, describing the claims as false and the product of panic triggered by a mistaken sighting of armed hunters.
Panic had spread across parts of Nasarawa State on Friday after online reports claimed that students of the school, located in Rukubi, Doma Local Government Area, had been abducted.
But the school management and the police refuted the claims, clarifying that no pupil was kidnapped.
The confusion began when some students heading to the school field for Physical and Health Education practicals reportedly spotted hunters carrying Dane guns.
According to Peters Ezegwoya, the school proprietor, who spoke in a voice chat facilitated by Ramhan Nansel, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), the pupils mistook the hunters for kidnappers and raised an alarm, triggering panic among their classmates.
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In the audio conversation shared with TVC News Digital, Ezegwoya explained that teachers immediately escorted the students back to the school premises.
However, some pupils exaggerated the incident, leading to widespread fear and prompting some parents to rush to the school.
“Some students began spreading claims that they had seen kidnappers. This caused panic, but no student was kidnapped. None is missing,” Ezegwoya said.
He described the alarm as a rumour blown out of proportion, stressing that all students are safe.
To ease public anxiety, the Nasarawa Police Command issued a formal statement debunking the abduction reports.
According to Nansel, the police received an unverified report that two pupils had been abducted during sporting activities, prompting Shetima Mohammed, Commissioner of Police, to deploy a combined team of police and military operatives to the area.
The police said investigations revealed that the scare resulted from students fleeing after sighting the hunters. The area was searched and normalcy restored.
“The proprietor confirmed to the operatives that the alarm raised was false. Normalcy was restored immediately, and the area remains under close surveillance,” the statement said.
The Command urged the public to disregard the viral report, describing it as “mere rumour unworthy of publication,” and advised journalists and media platforms to verify information before disseminating it.
The incident comes amid a rising wave of attacks on schools in northern Nigeria, heightening fears about student safety and reigniting calls for stronger protection of learning environments, especially in rural communities.
