By COLLINS YAKUBU-HAMMER

The Federal Government on Tuesday debunked a news report of a coup scare in the country.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, in a statement said “the report is unequivocally false, and is a heinous act of disinformation”.

In the statement made available to newsmen in Abuja by the Minister’s media aide, Mr Rabiu Ibrahim, he urged the public to ignore the report aimed at sowing seed of discord in the country.

According to the Minister, the report is “the figment of the warped imagination of detractors, whose malicious intent is to destabilise the country and undermine the present administration.”

Idris said the government would neither be distracted nor intimidated into abandoning the ongoing reforms aimed at rejuvenating the economy and creating a pathway of prosperity for the citizenry.

“It is now evident that some desperate individuals have resorted to publishing fake news to erode public trust in the government and sow the seed of discord in the country.

“The government will exercise its rights within the laws to contain rogue actions to destabilise national security and the nation’s hard-earned democracy,” he said.

Idris urged the public to exercise discernment and refrain from spreading or amplifying the unfounded report.

He stressed that the report was being strategically planted on some pliant and compromised news platforms to subvert the nation’s democracy. (NAN)