- * Two Abducted
By Celestine Okafor (Editor-in-Chief)
Barely less than a month after the abduction of two Professors and four others at the University of Abuja, gunmen suspected to be armed bandits, on Thursday morning, attacked adjourning communities to the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna in Niger state.
The gunmen at about 12 am (Thursday) reportedly engaged the local vigilante groups in the area in a shoot-out that lasted for hours thereby causing palpable fear and tension at Gidan-kwano, the University’s main campus.
Some of the students in their account of the shoot-out said they started hearing gunshots in front of the school gate, along the Minna-Bida road at about some minutes to twelve midnight through to early Thursday morning.
While the shooting lasted, the students said they could also hear shouts and calls for help by some of the shop owners in front of the main campus gate as they were being overpowered by the assailants.
Though the attack could not be confirmed by the schools’ Public Relations unit, Mrs. Lydia Legbo, as she did not pick her calls when NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER Correspondent called, the assailants, it was gathered, also abducted one of the shop owners after carting away some consumables.
The school’s Student Union Government (SUG) President, Comrade Shuaib Isiaka Yahaya, confirmed the attack to journalists but said no life was lost and none of the students was kidnapped.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Niger State Command, Wasiu A. Abiodun, confirmed the incident. The police however said it was not armed bandits but suspected hoodlums.
The terse response from the PPRO stated that “At about 2330 hrs, some suspected hoodlums attacked a shop at Gidan-Kwano, opposite FUT, Minna main gate and abducted two children belonging to the shop owner”.
Abiodun further explained that “Police/vigilante were immediately drafted to the scene of the attack for aggressive manhunt of the hoodlums. And during stop and search, one of the suspects was intercepted and arrested at Barkuta village”. NNL.
