Policeman killed in gun battle with kidnap suspect in Abia State

 

• 3 kidnapped ABU students rescued

 

BY OUR EDITOR

The Commissioner of Police Abia State, Mr Ene Okon, has confirmed the killing of a police officer, Anyanime Udobat, during a gun battle with a kidnap suspect at Arongwa Village, near Aba.

Udobat, was until his death attached to the Anti-Robbery Squad at the Aba Area Command.

Okon told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the squad was dispatched to arrest the suspect in his hideout in Arongwa, Osisioma Local Government Area of Abia, when the incident occurred.

According to him, police officers were about to gain entry into the suspect’s house, when he reportedly opened his door and started firing at them.

The police boss said that the deceased officer was shot at a close range and he died on the spot.

He said that the unnamed suspect was also killed during the crossfire that ensued.

It was reliably gathered that the deceased officer was survived by his wife and four children, including a three-month-old baby.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Police Command says its operatives have rescued three students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, abducted on Monday along Abuja-Kaduna highway.

The Command’s Public Relations Officers, DSP Yakubu Sabo, however, said in a press statement issued Wednesday in Kaduna, that three other persons were still being held by the kidnappers.

“The Command wishes to state that, on the said date, August 26, at about 18:50hrs, armed men in military uniform intercepted some commuters near Masari Village, along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, opened fire on the vehicles, in the process kidnaped six persons.

“However, due to the prompt response of the Police and other security agents to the scene, three people were later released by the hoodlums due to intensive combing within the general area.”

The statement said the three students alongside the abandoned vehicles at the scene of the incident, were moved to the police station.

It assured that concerted efforts were being coordinated by the joint teams of Anti-Kidnapping Unit, PMF and the IRT to rescue the remaining three victims and apprehend the perpetrators.