From Bolaji Ogundele, Gbenga Omokhunu, Nicholas Kalu, Abuja, AbdulGafar Alabelewe, Kaduna
- IGP orders full enforcement of curfew
- Interfaith seeks improved surveillance
Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have killed a Kaduna-based lawyer, Haro Gandu, and abducted his wife and son.
Gandu is said to be a worker with the Kaduna State Ministry of Justice until his death.
It was gathered that the hoodlums broke into his house at Tollgate area on Abuja Road in Kaduna on Sunday night through one of the windows and shot him.
The state police command’s spokesman Muhammad Jalige could not be reached last night for comments as calls to his mobile phone were not answered. But a former Commissioner for Economic Planning and brother to the decease, Timothy Gandu, confirmed the incident.
He said the gunmen shot his brother on the shoulder as they entered the house, adding that they shot him at the back as he attempted to escape.
“It is the same narrative of criminality everywhere. Bandits have been invading communities and breaking into homes, killing and abducting people.
“They came to the house on Sunday night, pulled down the window and gained access. They first shot him on the shoulder. When he wanted to escape, they followed him and shot him on the back and he died. The gunmen abducted his wife and son,” Gandu said.
As the security situation in Kaduna worsened, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu has directed the Commissioner of Police to ensure full enforcement of the curfew imposed by the state government.
In a statement yesterday in Abuja by the Force Public Relations Officer Frank Mba, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), the IGP also urged the police commissioner to ensure optimal deployment of human and material assets of the Intervention Squad, currently on the ground in the state, to secure the lives and property of the residents.
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“The police commissioner is to personally coordinate the operations of the Intervention Squad in carrying out collective and holistic tasks of ensuring peace and safety in the communities. The Squad comprises: the Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU), Police Special Forces, Detectives/Intelligence Operatives as well as personnel of the Kaduna State Police Command, the military and other security agencies.
“The IGP commiserates with the people of Kaduna State, particularly those who have lost their loved ones and property as a result of the crises. He assures that the Force will do everything within its powers and means to ensure that peace is restored in the affected areas.
“Meanwhile, the IGP enjoins the people of Kaduna State to cooperate with the police, the military and other law enforcement agencies as they carry out the full enforcement of the curfew, among other measures directed at ensuring their safety.”
Also, a pro-democracy and human rights group, under the aegis of Concerned Nigerians, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai to end the killings in Southern Kaduna.
In a statement by its convener, Deji Adeyanju, Concerned Nigerians decried the continued attacks, killings and maiming of Southern Kaduna residents by suspected herdsmen without intervention from the Federal and state governments.
He said: “We condemn, in strong terms, the mindless killing of the indigenous people in Southern Kaduna over the past few weeks. All lives matter, and we call on the Government of Nigeria and El-Rufai to wake up to their civic responsibility in addressing the killings of civilians and bring the perpetrators of this dastardly act to justice.
“Enough of these senseless and mindless killings. The indigenous people of Southern Kaduna need a respite from all these killings and unrest in their villages.
“Every citizen in Nigeria has a right to be protected by the government, and the silence of the state and Federal governments concerning the killings going on in Southern Kaduna speak volumes…”
Religious leaders, under the aegis of Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace (IDFP), have advised government at all levels to invest more in intelligence gathering and surveillance to end the killings in Southern Kaduna.
A statement by its Co-Chairmen – Alhaji Kunle Danni and Bishop Sunday Onuoha – said: “The Interfaith Dialogue Forum for Peace observes that the violence in Southern Kaduna has resulted in such high-level insecurity that there is significant dislodgement of people, particularly in the hinterland communities into IDP camps and abodes of relatives in bigger communities.
“Coming during the farming season, the violence also threatens to unleash hunger on the people of the region and the state generally next year as the predominantly farming communities are restricted to cultivating only their backyard farms for fear of attacks in their far-off farmlands.
“Vulnerable populations, like women and the youth, are at high risks. Women and the youth both face the risks of death and loss of sources of livelihood. Women and the youth face the additional risks of rape and a break in educational pursuits respectively.”
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