The Nigeria Police Force has denied reports suggesting that there is an inconsistency in police communication regarding a recent abduction incident in Kaduna State.

Reports of the abduction in Kurmin Wali, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State, emerged on Sunday, with over 100 worshippers said to have been taken during the attack.

Although the police initially denied the attack, the authorities later reversed their position, admitting that the incident “did occur” and that many people were kidnapped.

In an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, said there is no discrepancy in the communication made available to the public.

He said as soon as the Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Muhammad Rabiu, got wind of the report, he deployed operatives to the scene of the attack.

“There is no inconsistency from the statement coming from the police,” Hundeyin stated.

“The (Kaduna State) Commissioner of Police said when we received the information and immediately, we mobilised there and we are yet to get any evidence as this happened.

“The moment we got evidence, we also came out to say that we have gotten evidence. So there is no inconsistency.”

He disclosed that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered the deployment of police helicopters for air surveillance.

The IGP also deployed additional operational and intelligence assets to the area.

The police said the response includes the deployment of tactical units, intensified patrols, and targeted search-and-rescue operations.

The police appealed to the public and the media to rely on official communications for verified information, warning that sensational reporting could “jeopardise ongoing operations or heighten public anxiety.”

Earlier, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) criticised security agencies over their response to the abduction of worshippers in Kurmin Wali community.

In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja and signed by its President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, CAN expressed concern over what it described as poor public communication by the security agencies.

The association said the early response lacked sensitivity and thoroughness, noting that dismissing reports of the incident before proper verification caused confusion and further eroded public confidence in the authorities.

CAN acknowledged the subsequent confirmation of the abduction and commended the Inspector-General of Police for deploying operational and intelligence resources to the affected area, describing the action as both necessary and welcome.

However, the association stressed that such measures should be accompanied by a more disciplined and people-focused approach to crisis communication in the future.

It urged all security agencies and relevant authorities to strengthen coordination, improve verification procedures, and ensure that credible community reports are treated with the seriousness they deserve.

“Victims must be protected, genuine distress calls respected, and misinformation, whether dismissive or sensational, must be avoided,” CAN stated.

The association also called on governments at all levels to tackle the persistent insecurity across the country with renewed urgency, warning that recurring attacks continue to threaten lives, disrupt worship, and undermine public confidence.

CAN appealed for the immediate and unconditional release of all those abducted, praying for their safe and unharmed return.

It urged security agencies to intensify every possible effort, operational, intelligence, and diplomatic, to ensure a swift rescue, stressing that the protection of innocent lives must remain the highest priority.

The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said Nigeria must deliberately target global investors and supply chain relocations to drive job creation, deepen manufacturing, and reduce import dependence.

She made the remarks on Wednesday in a short clip posted by GLAZIA on its X handle from a discussion titled “From Scale to Capital: Financing Nigeria’s Role as Africa’s Digital Trade and Infrastructure Anchor,” held at Nigeria House during the ongoing World Economic Forum in Davos.

Recall that rising geopolitical tensions, particularly between the United States and China, have accelerated supply chain diversification. Firms are increasingly adopting “China+1” sourcing strategies to reduce single-country risk, although China remains deeply embedded in many global value chains. In addition, tariffs and trade restrictions have incentivised companies to reconsider reliance on dominant suppliers, prompting the relocation or diversification of production hubs.

Okonjo-Iweala maintained that these disruptions present an opportunity for Nigeria to capture a share of global supply chains but stressed that this would require aggressive marketing of the country to prospective investors.


She said, “As you said, some good reforms are being pursued right now. I think they need to yield to job creation. That was what I said to His Excellency—that we need to move from stabilisation to job creation, because that is where we are lacking. It is not going to be overnight, but they are moving in the right direction. What I think they need to do is map where the opportunities are.

“What I would like to see is a continued effort to attract investment into the country, because there is an opportunity now to attract these supply chains. If there is one thing I would say, it is that everything we can do to showcase Nigeria as a country worthy of investment is what we should be doing.

“And we should deliberately have strategies to go after those investments and investors—to go to China, the US, whatever it takes—to come and invest in our country. As companies seek to diversify supply chains, a lot of that movement is still within Asia. Diversification is moving from China but still within Asia, and India is another destination. We should attract a sizeable chunk of that. I’m not saying all.

“Let’s build solar panels in Nigeria. We are importing, but we can also manufacture. We have the renewable capacity. In fashion, let them come to invest. Every time I buy a piece of wax (textile), I check to see where it’s made. Let’s attract investment to make it at home rather than elsewhere. Many of the shiny new textiles we are wearing now are not made in Nigeria; a lot of them are imported.”

She also highlighted opportunities in the pharmaceutical sector, saying, “Pharmaceuticals—there is a chance there as well. These are some of the supply chains I would be attracting.”

Also present on the panel was the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Dr Oludapo Olusi.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, in an earlier interview with Bloomberg on Day 2 of #WEF26, said that at a time of global fragmentation, Nigeria is focused on discipline, reform credibility, and sustained dialogue.

He said, “The aim in the short term is to get the tax-to-GDP ratio up to 18 per cent and channel resources into social services and infrastructure.”

Edun emphasised that Nigeria remains committed to fiscal discipline, attracting investment, and leveraging its resources to ensure sustainable growth in a fragmented global economy.

President Donald Trump demanded immediate talks on acquiring Greenland in a hardline speech at Davos Wednesday, but said that while the United States possessed “unstoppable force” it would not use it to take the Arctic island from Denmark.

Trump’s quest to take control of Greenland, which he said was needed for national and international security, dominated his address to the World Economic Forum as he returned for the first time in six years.

“It’s the United States alone that can protect this giant mass of land, this giant piece of ice,” Trump told a packed audience of global political and business leaders in the Swiss ski resort who queued for more than an hour to listen.

“That’s the reason I’m seeking immediate negotiations to once again discuss the acquisition of Greenland by the United States.”

Denmark has “a choice,” he said.

“You can say yes, and we will be very appreciative. Or you can say no and we will remember. A strong and secure America means a strong NATO.”

But Trump appeared to rule out the threat of military action against fellow NATO member Denmark — which he branded “ungrateful” — that has threatened to tear the transatlantic alliance apart.

“We probably won’t get anything unless I decide to use excessive strength and force where we would be, frankly, unstoppable, but I won’t do that,” Trump said, adding that it was probably the “biggest statement I made.”

“I don’t have to use force. I don’t want to use force. I won’t use force.”

Trump however lambasted Europe on a number of fronts from Greenland to tariffs and the economy, saying it was “not heading in the right direction”.



‘Rupture’


Trump’s claims over mineral-rich Greenland have completely overshadowed the meeting in Davos, where he landed by helicopter, stepping onto a red carpet laid in the snow.

He arrived some two hours behind schedule, after an electrical issue earlier forced Air Force One to turn back to Washington and switch planes.

But in a sign of the dissent against Trump, the words “No Kings” were dug into the snow overlooking mountain-fringed Davos overnight, referring to a US protest slogan.

Europe and Canada had earlier closed ranks against what they view as a threat to the US-led global order from Trump’s territorial ambitions over semi-autonomous Greenland.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney warned at Davos on Tuesday of a “rupture” to the US-led system, in a speech which won a standing ovation.

NATO chief Mark Rutte told Davos on Wednesday that “thoughtful diplomacy” was needed, as Trump’s claims over Greenland provoke an existential crisis for the group.

“There are these tensions at the moment, there’s no doubt,” said Rutte, who has been dubbed the “Trump whisperer” for his ability to deal with the US president.

Rutte also pushed back against Trump after he said he doubted NATO would come to the aid of the United States if asked. “I tell him, yes they will,” Rutte said.


‘So unfairly’


Trump however repeated his doubts on NATO during his speech, saying Washington was treated “so unfairly.”

France called meanwhile Wednesday for a NATO exercise in Greenland “and is ready to contribute to it”, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said.

Macron had warned at Davos on Tuesday against US attempts to “subordinate Europe”, and blasted Trump’s “unacceptable” threats to impose tariffs on allies over Greenland.

Europe has threatened countermeasures after Trump turned up the pressure by threatening levies of up to 25 percent on eight European countries for backing Denmark.

Greenland’s prime minister said Tuesday that his tiny population of 57,000 must be prepared for military force.

On Thursday, meanwhile, Trump is set to formally announce the first charter of his so-called “Board of Peace,” a body for resolving international conflicts with a $1 billion price tag for permanent membership.