Armed kidnappers numbering about 10 on Sunday had a field day on Abuja-Kaduna expressway, killing and abducting scores of travellers.
The attack occurred near Gidan Busa village, located between Jere and Kateri along the expressway.
Mohammed Sheriff, one of the hundreds of travellers who parked at a distance, waiting for security operatives to clear the road, told DAILY NIGERIAN on phone at 6:45pm that attack lasted for about an hour.
One of the survivors who spoke with DAILY NIGERIAN from the scene said an army officer and a policeman were among those killed by the gunmen.
“There is an army officer travelling with his orderly and daughter. The orderly escaped with gunshot but they killed the army officer and his daughter on the spot,” Haruna Isa, a VW Golf driver who survived the attack told our reporter.
“There is another person they killed after identifying that he was a policeman. Several other passengers were killed, while many were abducted.”
Witnesses said the security officers refused to engage the kidnappers on the premise that “they were waiting for reinforcement”.
Austin Iwar, the Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State, said he could not establish whether there was killing or kidnapping.
“All I can say is that a shooting incident was just reported to us around Kateri area, and our men responded to it immediately.
“I am now awaiting the situation report to know the cause of the shooting incident and take appropriate measures,” Mr Iwar told DAILY NIGERIAN.
