Bandits Invade Ex-Minister’s Residence , Injure Three Guards

Heavily armed men, suspected to be kidnappers, invaded the residence of a former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, on Saturday night 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, around 7:50 p.m.

One of the security guards who was injured told our correspondent that the attackers, who spoke Hausa, banged on the former minister’s gate for several minutes before scaling the fence of the house when they noticed that no one was willing to open the gate for them.

He said, “The situation was really a terrible one. They came in their numbers and started knocking on the gate while speaking Hausa, but when we observed that they had strange faces, we refused to open the gate for them.

“Because of our refusal 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, the former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, lamented that it was the third time in one month that bandits attacked 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, DSP Ramhan Nansel, proved abortive as he was not responding to calls put across to his mobile line. Punch