Soldiers arrest bandits linked to killing of district head, daughter

• Two Killed In Ibadan Mob Attack Of Robbers

Soldiers have arrested two suspected bandits linked with the killing of the district head of Gidan Zaki in Atyap Chiefdom of Zangon Kataf Council, Haruna Kuye.

Two children kidnapped in Jama’a Council in Southern Kaduna have also been rescued.

The military intelligence operatives, working under the auspices of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), were said to have arrested the suspects in connection with the killing. 

Kuye and his son, Destiny, were killed in their residence at Gidan Zaki on November 17, this year, while the assailants injured his wife and daughter. 

In Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, tragedy struck yesterday as two persons, including a suspected armed robber and a motorcyclist, were killed in pandemonium when scores of irate mob set a middle-aged man ablaze for allegedly killing a victim, after snatching a motorcycle from a commercial motorcyclist in the city.

It was learned that the angry youths, who had chased the robbers from Olomi area, eventually caught one of them around 110 Round About in Odo-Ona area of the city and set him ablaze after hitting him with stones and other dangerous objects.

The incident, which occurred around 7.20 am, caused a stir, as many onlookers struggled to see the body of the alleged robber burning on the ground. This led to traffic snarl, as motorists were held up in a long queue.

An eyewitness said one of the robbers during the hot chase fled by youths.

A statement by the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, yesterday, said in the latest operations report, the military disclosed that its operatives have tracked and arrested two suspects. 

“According to the report, Goma Maisamari and Daniel Maisamari (alias Umma) were arrested at Kampani Amawa village of Zangon Kataf Council, while the other persons suspected of involvement are still on the run.”

Aruwan in another development, two children- Rebecca Andrew and Clement Andrew- who were missing after the counter-killing of November 30, this year at Ungwan Bido in Jema’a Council have been found, adding: “The Chairman of Jema’a Local Government, Mr. Peter Danjuma Averik, has confirmed the recovery of the two minors.

“Governor Nasir El-Rufai commended the military for the progress in investigating the killing of Kuye and urged security agencies to sustain the tempo by apprehending the suspects still at large and recovery of the two children.

“Security agencies are maintaining ground and air patrols on the Kaduna-Abuja Road, which stretches to Kachia, Chikun, and Kagarko Councils and on the Kaduna-Kachia Road and in locations in Igabi, Birnin Gwari and Giwa Councils.”

The Oyo State Police Command spokesman, Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, who confirmed the incident, said the two robbers had snatched an okada (motorcycle) from Olomi area of Ibadan in the morning and were trailed by angry youths down to 110 Roundabout, where one escaped, but the other one was unlucky.

He added that investigation had commenced into the matter, while the motorcycle had been recovered to the Oluyole Police Station in the metropolis.