…Bandits kills Zamfara Lawmaker hours after decamping to APC
Salim Umar Ibrahim, Kano
Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje’s convoy came under attack by gunmen on Tuesday night while returning to Kano from Zamfara.
According to a source, three policemen were injured in the attack.
Ganduje was in Jigawa State governor’s car, Muhammad Badaru during the attack, and wasn’t in the attacked convoy, sources said.
The sources added that the security operatives in the convoy engaged the suspected bandit in a gun battle that led to three policemen sustaining bullet wounds.
The bandits were said to have blocked Zamfara, Katsina, and Kano Road, around Shema on Tuesday.
Recall that in October 2017, Governor Ganduje’s convoy was attacked by armed robbers at Hayin Kibau on his way to Jos, the Plateau State capital from Abuja.
Dr Ganduje was in the convoy with his wife Prof. Hafsat Ganduje during the attack with a heavy gun battle between the security operatives in the convoy and the armed robbers.
After the incident, the governor and his wife had to be flown to Abuja in a chopper from Jos.
Gov. Ganduje was among other APC governors that were in Zamfara on Tuesday to receive, Gov. Bello Matawalle who defected to the party from the PDP.
Efforts to speak with Ganduje’s Chief Press Secretary, Abba Anwar was not successful as his phone was not attended to.
But another source told Nigerian NewsDirect that sustained severe injuries were sustained by a senior police officer and a driver who is also another police man.
In a related development, Katsina State Police have confirmed the death of Muhammad Ahmad, a member of the Zamfara State House of Assembly in another bandit attack along the Funtua sheme road.
The bandits in their number blocked the main road linking Katsina and Zamfara states in the late hours of Tuesday to take advantage of the heavy traffic witnessed on that road to attend Governor Matawalle’s defection rally.
Unguwar Boka and the area where the lawmaker was has been notorious for being dangerous, with bandits frequently intercepting motorists on the futua Zamfara road.
The statement issued by the police through its social media thread indicates that the lawmaker was travelling to return his son back to school.
The 8 frontline local governments in Katsina state all share borders with the Rugu forest, the hideout of the strong bandit groups which also have a direct link with the Dunburum forest in Zamfara state.