The police is closing in on the kidnappers of Alhaji Musa Umar, the district head of Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari’s hometown, as some suspects have been reported arrested.
The police were reported to have arrested the suspects by the Special Assistant to the President on Social Media Lauretta Onochie who broke the news on her twitter handle yesterday.
“Police in Katsina State said the suspects in connection with the abduction of Magajin Garin Daura, Alhaji Musa Uba, who was abducted at his residence, have been arrested,” she tweeted.
The kidnappers stormed Umar’s Daura residence at 7 pm on Wednesday, shooting sporadically into the air. There was pandemonium.
Umar had just returned from the mosque where he took part in the evening prayer when the incident happened.
Umar, who is said to be the father-in-law of President Buhari’s ADC was sitting in front of his home with some people when the gunmen came.
A witness told the News Agency of Nigeria that the kidnappers came in a Peugeot 406 saloon car.
After the gunmen left, Daura Council Chairman Mallam Abba Mato and hundreds of sympathisers came to Umar’s residence to discuss the bewildering incident.
The suspects were seized after members of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) special operation codenamed “Puff Arder” engaged the gangster in a shootout.
There has been no word on the whereabouts of the district head.
Police Public Relations Officer of the Katsina State Command Gambo Isah, a Superintendent, in a statement, said the bandits, numbering about six, who stormed the Magajin Garin Daura home, took him to an unknown destination.
Isah stated that the abductors, however, ran out of luck, when the Commissioner of Police Sanusi Buba, with police patrol teams from Kusada Division intercepted the fleeing hoodlums and engaged them in a gun battle.
One Inspector Muntari Maikudi attached to Kusada Division sustained a gunshot injury and was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina for treatment.
“IGP Tactical Squad, SARS teams, Police Mobile Force and Counter-terrorism units have already been dispatched to rescue the victim alive and safely to his family. The command enjoins members of the public to always assist the security agencies with timely and actionable intelligence on the activities of these bandits.
“Be rest assured that the command and indeed other security agencies are on their toes to bring to an end the activities of these bandits.”
