Heavily-armed suspected kidnappers, Saturday night, invaded the residence of a former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, and left three security guards brutally injured.
The suspected kidnappers, who shot sporadically into the air, forced their way into Maku’s residence in Ola, Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State at about 7.50 pm.
One of the security guards, who was brutally injured, told our correspondent that the Hausa-speaking attackers scaled the fence and jumped into the compound after banging on the gates for several minutes.
He said, “The situation was a terrible one. They came in numbers and started knocking on the gates while speaking Hausa, but when we observed that they were strange faces, we refused to open the gate for them.
“Because we refused to open the gate, they started shooting and later jumped the fence into the compound, and we were injured while making efforts to handle the situation.”
Speaking on the incident, Maku lamented that it was the third time in one month that bandits would attack his residence.
He said, “You will remember that they invaded my father’s compound at Wakama and kidnapped three of my siblings about a month ago.
“The other time, they killed two of my elder brother’s children right at the residential house.
“What happened today shows clearly that our state is under siege. It took the intervention of the Army and the police deployed to Akwanga, who immediately rushed to my residence to assist us. On sighting the army, the bandits fled into the bush.”
Efforts made by our correspondent to get the reaction of the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Ramhan Nansel, proved abortive as he did not pick up calls put across to his mobile line.
Meanwhile, the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has condemned the invasion of Maku’s house.
The governor, in a statement on Sunday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Peter Ahemba, described the incident as sad and unfortunate.
“On behalf of the government and people of Nasarawa State, Governor Abdullahi Sule extends his deepest sympathy to the former Minister of Information over the unfortunate incident, and to the injured security personnel who were on duty at the time of the invasion,” the statement said.
It added that “as a responsible government, the security of lives and property as well as the general well-being of the citizens will continue to top priority of this administration.”
