A retired air force officer and former Commissioner of the National Population Commission (NPC), Zakari Umaru-Kigbu, has been killed and two of his daughters abducted by his killers.
Umaru-Kigbu was reportedly killed yesterday, at his residence in Azuba Bashayi, Lafia Local Government Area of Nasarawa.
A family member, who didn’t want his name in print, confirmed the incident to newsmen yesterday morning in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, adding that the kidnappers had also demanded N50 million ransom for the release of his kidnapped 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.”
Umaru-Kigbu, 60, was a retired Air Force officer. But, until his death, he was a lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, lsa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic, Lafia (IMAP), and former NPC federal commissioner, covering Nasarawa State.
He was also an agent of a governorship aspirant, Labaran Maku, in the recent governorship primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Although Maku later withdrew from the governor race.
Confirming the incident, Spokesperson of the State Police Command, ASP Ramhan Nansel, said the command got a distress call at 12.20am yesterday, adding that investigation was ongoing to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Nansel also confirmed that two of the deceased’s daughters were kidnapped by the gunmen. He, however, said the command was not aware of the N50 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
“We responded to the distress call and immediately deployed our patrol 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 deceased unhurt. The command has launched a manhunt for the perpetrators,” he said.
He said Umaru-Kigbu was rushed to Dalhatu Raf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia, where he died.
