Bandits kill four in Kaduna, kidnap two professors

Armed bandits have killed four people in Igabi and Giwa councils of Kaduna State. They also kidnapped a professor in Wusasa Community, Zaria. Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, stated yesterday that security operatives reported the incidents on Monday evening. He stated: “One Lawali Abdulhameed, a resident of Anaba village, was shot dead by the bandits.

“Security agencies also reported that armed bandits, last night, invaded Wusasa in Zaria Council, and kidnapped the Wazirin Wusasa, Professor Aliyu Mohammed; killed his son, Abdulaziz Aliyu; while his nephew, Abba Kabiru, was injured and now receiving treatment in hospital.”

According to him, armed bandits on motorcycles swarmed Iyatawa village of Giwa; but local vigilante groups drove them away.

“Two of the local vigilante, Malam Auwalu and Alassan Shehu, were killed during the encounter, as ground and air patrols were quickly mobilised to the location for a comprehensive engagement.

“Governor Nasir el-Rufai, on receiving the reports, sent condolences to the families of the slain residents and vigilante, praying for the repose of their souls. He also prayed for speedy recovery of the injured.”

The governor reportedly thanked the military for swiftly deploying forces to the affected community.
ALSO, gunmen abducted a professor of Mathematical Science, Johnson Fatokun, on Monday, along Akwanga/Keffi highway.

Armed gangs were said to have ambushed the don, who was driving from Jos to Keffi about 9p.m. A survivor told The Guardian in Lafia that as they were approaching Garaku in Kokona Council, some people started shooting sporadically behind them. The professor increased his speed, only to meet another gang in police uniform.

“When we stopped, they ordered us into the bush and started speaking Hausa dialect. When I told one of them that ‘I don’t understand Hausa,’ he cocked his gun. Unfortunately, he had run out of bullet,” the survivor narrated.

He added that the kidnapper then pulled out a knife and made to stab him, but he escaped and hid. While the gunmen were searching for him, they met a soldier on patrol who engaged them in a gun battle and they fled with the professor.

The survivor said that he had made a statement at Garaku Police Station where the professor’s car riddled with bullet holes is parked. The abductors are demanding N20 million as ransom before his release.

Fatokun is the Dean, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Federal University, Dutsin-Ma. He is also the pioneer Deputy Vice Chancellor, Anchor University, Lagos.