Dare devil gunmen stormed the Dan Amar Road residence of Malam Mamman Daura, the influential nephew of President Muhammadu Buhari and his closest confidant about 9 a.m. in Kaduna and abducted Ambassador Bagudu Hirse yesterday.
Hirse, a former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and one-time Nigeria’s ambassador to Namibia, was the gubernatorial candidate of Labour Party in Plateau State during the 2015 election.
According to a family source, the president’s Chief of Staff, Malam Abba Kyari and former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Ambassador Babagana Kingibe, were all at Daura’s residence when the gunmen shot their way into the house.
The source, who does not want to be named, said that the security details of the members of the president’s kitchen cabinet all scurried for cover when dethe gunmen struck, while Daura and his guests laid down on the floor.
Narrating what happened to New Telegraph, the source said that Ambassador Hirse had gone to Daura’s house in order to condole with him over the death of Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, the 18thSultan of Sokoto and Daura’s fatherin- law, when the attackers struck.
“They stormed the house and started shooting sporadically as people were off-loading cartons of juice and soft drinks from Hirse’s jeep while the Ambassador was standing by the car.
The boys shot him on the leg and took him away,” the source said. However, another source said that Hirse was trailed to Daura’s gate and that the attackers blocked him at the gate and not inside the house.Similarly, the Police Public Relations Officer of Kaduna Command, ASP Aliyu Usman, confirmed Hirse’s kidnap, but also said that it happened along Daura’s Dan Amar Road and not in the residence as alleged.
About 10 minutes after the attackers had fled, Daura’s younger brother, who is a security officer, arrived the scene armed to the teeth, the source further said.
He was angry with the security lapse that gave the attackers the loophole to even shoot their way into Daura’s residence. “He was so angry with the arrangement whereby there were no security officers around his brother’s residence since their arrival.
He stormed out in anger,” the source added. New Telegraph learnt that the attackers started surveillance around Daura’s residence since 8 a.m. According to a young man who operates a car washing business around the area, “the attackers were driving around Isa Kaita Road, through Inuwa Wada Road.
Some times, they will turn left at Gwadabbe Road or Yahaya Road, before linking Isa Kaita Road again.” Daura’s house is at Dan Amar Road, off Inuwa Wada Road.
The source who said that the gunmen were young men, could, however, not say the model of the car that they were driving. The police spokesman said that efforts are being made to secure Hirse’s release to his family. When asked if the kidnappers have asked for ransom, ASP Usman said that, that is not the preoccupation of the police for now.
He said that security has been beefed up. When New Telegraph passed around the area at 6 p.m., our correspondent noticed that there was only one policeman opposite Daura’s house and people were milling around freely along Inuwa Wada Road. A source, however, said that checkpoints have been mounted along Kaduna- Abuja road, Kaduna- Zaria Road and the Lagos Road, as well as all roads leading out of Kaduna. John Bagudu, a former federal permanent secretary, who is the District Head of Mangu, in Plateau State, confirmed the abduction of his brother.
John said that he was expecting further details “on the sad incident”. “I got home from Church to read the message informing me of the kidnap of my brother, Bagudu, on my phone,” he said.