‘No new terror group in our state’ – Kebbi govt

The Kebbi State Government has dismissed reports claiming that a new insurgent group has emerged in the state, insisting that the suspects are a cybercrime gang rather than terrorists.

The State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Yakubu Ahmed, made the clarification during a visit to the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali M. Ali, in Abuja on Tuesday.

Ahmed described the reports as “an outright lie” and “calculated misinformation ahead of the 2027 general elections.”

He said investigations by the Department of State Services (DSS) and the police found that the group, known as “Yan Vocal”, was involved in online fraud and extortion, not insurgency.

“What they found out was that instead of a terror group, what we are talking about is a group of young people who are into cybercrimes, manipulating the computer and reaching out to government officials and people who they believe have money,” Ahmed said.

He added that arrests had already been made and stated that the group referred to as “Sai Malam” was the same “Yan Vocal” gang.

The commissioner also rejected reports claiming that more than 130 children die every day in Kebbi due to a high child mortality rate.

He called the figures false and accused political opponents of spreading misleading information to damage the image of Governor Nasir Idris’ administration.

“If they are dying at 130 daily, in the next one year, there will be no child left in Kebbi State. So that is a complete lie,” he said.

Ahmed further claimed that UNICEF had contacted the state government to say the report did not originate from the organisation.

Responding, NAN Managing Director Ali said the growth of citizen journalism and artificial intelligence had made fake news easier to spread.

Ali urged government information officials to be more proactive in sharing verified information.