The authorities of Kaduna State College of Education have accused Mr. Luka Binniyat, a Vanguard Newspaper reporter in Kaduna, of inventing a story that five of its students were killed by Fulani herdsmen in the southern part of the state at the weekend.
In a statement sent to the media, embassies and civil society organizations, the institution said the report was fabricated by the reporter to compound the security situation in the state. Signed by the institution's Registrar, Mr. Samuel Tukurah, the statement said the college was requested by the military high command to authenticate claims made in the Vanguard report.
The statement said the college does not have a Mass Communication Department, whose students were said to have been killed by the Vanguard reporter. It also explained that it received no report of such incident. The statement added that the students of the college's campus at Gidan Waya are currently broken.
The Vanguard correspondent had reported that Fulani herdsmen killed some students of the college, a situation that heightened tension in an already fragile area. The story also gained currency on the social media.
The Kaduna State College of Education described the report as unfounded and a confection.
"The College wishes to categorically state that the story is totally false and unfounded. Similarly, the College is not aware or in receipt of any report of such incidence from the Police. Moreover, the College does not run any Department of Mass Communication and all her students of the Gidan-Waya campus are presently on break.
"We are surprised that such insinuation is being patronized and perpetrated by certain reputable media outfits such as Vanguard.
"Members of the general public are, therefore, called upon to totally disregard such stories as they are mere attempt to compound the security challenges being experienced in Southern Kaduna and the State in general," the statement said.
