By Correspondent in Minna.
Gunmen suspected to be armed bandits on Thursday morning,attacked adjourning communities to the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna in Niger state, less than a month after the abduction of two Professors and four others at the University of Abuja,
Our Correspondent gathered that the gunmen, who struck at 12 noon engaged the local vigilante groups in the area in a shoot-out which lasted for hours, thereby causing palpable fear and tension at Gidan-kwano, the university’s main campus.
Some of the students in their account of the shoot-out said they started hearing gunshots in front of the school gate, along the Minna-Bida road at about some minutes to twelve midnight upto early Thursday morning.
While the shooting lasted, the students said they could also hear shout and calling for help by some of the shop owners in front of the main campus gate as they were being overpowered by the assailants.
Though the attack could not be confirmed by the university’s Public Relations officer, Mrs. Lydia Legbo,who did not pick her calls when our correspondent called.
The assailants, it was gathered, also abducted one of the shop owners after carting away some consumables.
The school’s Student Union Government (SUG) President, Comrade Shuaib Isiaka Yahaya, confirmed the attack to journalists but said no life was lost and none of the students was kidnapped.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Niger state Command, Wasiu A. Abiodun,who confirmed the incident, said it was not armed bandits but suspected hoodlums.
Abiodun said, “At about 2330 hrs, some suspected hoodlums attacked a shop at Gidan-Kwano, opposite FUT, Minna main gate and abducted two children belonging to the shop owner”.
He further explained that, “Police/vigilante were immediately drafted to the scene of the attack for aggressive manhunt of the hoodlums, adding that during stop and search, one of the suspects was intercepted and arrested at Barkuta village”.
Edited by Dada Ahmed.
