People are using our emergency numbers to obtain loans, say FCT police

Haruna Garba, commissioner of the federal capital territory (FCT) police command, has warned Nigerians against using the command’s emergency contact for obtaining loans.

Garba gave the warning on Friday in a statement issued by  Josephine Adeh, the command’s spokesperson.

The commissioner, who added that non-state actors have also been “engaging” the numbers, warned that those behind the acts will be arrested and prosecuted.

He appealed that the emergency contacts should only be used for the designated purposes.

“…the CP enjoins non-state actors who have been engaging the Police emergency lines in their mischievous posts, aimed at misleading members of the public and those submitting same to obtain loans to desist from such and only use the emergency lines for its intended purpose as deliberate steps will be taken to arrest and prosecute the purveyors of these illegal acts,” the statement reads.

Garba further denied reports that kidnappers wore police uniforms to abduct 17 residents in the Apo area of Abuja.

He described the reports as “a figment of the author’s imagination”.

“The Commissioner of Police FCT hereby wish to inform members of the public that contrary to the falsehood making the rounds on media platforms alleging that kidnappers who adorned the Police uniform to perpetrate their illicit acts have kidnapped 17 persons from the Apo area in Abuja is a figment of the author’s imagination as no incident of such happened within the FCT,” he said.

He urged FCT residents to take advantage of the police control room numbers – 08032003913, 08061581938, 07057337653, and 08028940883 – in reporting suspicious activities.