Army, Police Officers Feared Killed in Gunmen Attack on Kaduna-Abuja Road

Unspecified number of people, including police and army officers, were feared killed on Sunday night  along the Kaduna-Abuja road by armed bandits.

Also killed were the daughter of the army officer, and a former commissioner for Education in Katsina State Prof. Sadiya Akilu Idris.

The armed men were also said to have robbed and abducted several other people during the incident which occurred near Gidan Busa village on the highway.

Several others, including the orderly of the army officer, were said to have sustained injuries from gunshots as the hoodlums unleashed terror on motorists and travelers.

An Eyewitness said the incident took place at about 7:00pm and lasted for about an hour as the gunmen blocked the road and operated freely.

The eyewitness who pleaded anonymity was however, not specific about the number of those killed, but said several people may have been killed as the gunmen were shooting indiscriminately at people while others were abducted as they moved from one vehicle to another.

He said the bandits were about 10 and were armed with sophisticated weapons.

It was learnt that when the police men at one of the checkpoints on the highway were alerted about the operation, they couldn’t come  as they had  to wait  for reinforcement before confronting the bandits.

The gunmen struck at a time when security along the highway seemed to have improved.

Many people traveling to and from Kaduna have long abandoned the road for train services shuttling between Abuja and Kaduna due to the high rate of kidnapping and armed robbery on the highway.

Austin Iwar, Kaduna State Police Commissioner, and Aliyu Mukhtar, the command’s spokesman, did not respond to several telephone calls and text messages sent to them for their reaction on the incident.

Thisdaylive