Gunmen have killed a former Commissioner of the National Population Commission (NPC), Mr. Zakari Umaru-Kigbu in Nasarawa State, and abducted two of his daughters.
Sources confirmed that the incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday at Umar-Kigbu’s residence in Azuba Bashayi, Lafia Local Government Area (LGA) of Nasarawa State, Northcentral Nigeria.
A family member who confirmed the incident on Sunday morning in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital said the kidnappers had also demanded N50 million ransom for the release of the two daughters.
He said, “Mr. Umaru-Kigbu was killed by gunmen last night in his residence at Azuba Bashayi, Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa State and two of his daughters were also kidnapped.”
It was learnt that until his murder, he was a lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, lsa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic, Lafia (IMAP), and former NPC federal commissioner for Nasarawa State.
Our correspondent further gathered that the diseased before he was killed by gunmen was the agent of a governorship aspirant, Mr. Labaran Maku, who contested on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but later stepped down.
Confirming the incident to our correspondent on the telephone, the Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Ramhan Nansel, said the command got a distress call at 12.20am on Sunday.
According to him, investigation is ongoing to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Nansel also confirmed that two of the deceased daughters were Kidnapped by the gunmen.
He said, “We responded to the distressed call and immediately deployed our partrol teams of the command and the military also drafted its men to the scene of the incident to support the Nigeria Police Force so as to rescue the two daughters of the diseased unhurt.”
According to him, Umaru-Kigbu was rushed to Dalhatu Raf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia, where he gave was confirmed dead.
“The command has lunched a manhunt for the perpetrators,” he added.
The PPRO said the command was not aware of the N50 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers.