By Ibrahim Sulaiman
Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers, have opened fire on travelers at Katari area of the expressway on Friday.
The Nigeria Police Force had in June deployed 600 special squad to the expressway to check the menace of kidnapping and armed robbery along the road.
Incidences of kidnapping along the road had drastically reduced, following the mass deployment.
But witnesses told DAILY NIGERIAN that the Friday attack occurred at 2pm.
Narrating the incident, a traveler, Sani Ahmed, said Federal Road Safety Corps marshals flagged motorists to stop a few kilometers away to avoid encounter with the gunmen.
“We met a long line of vehicles parked by the roadside, so we also parked to avoid running into the kidnappers.
“Across the road, we saw a Toyota jeep with bullet holes and shattered windows. The driver of the car and one other occupant were not injured but a woman who was shot and severely wounded, was rushed to the hospital by Road Safety officials.
“The driver told us that the gun-wielding hoodlums suddenly emerged from the bush and waved at them to stop but they refused to stop. As they sped towards them without decelerating, they opened fire on the, injuring the woman and damaging the vehicle,” said the witness.
Spokesman to Kaduna State Police Command, Aliyu Usman, could not be reached for comment.
Commenting on the incident, a security source who preferred not to be named, said the best way to tackle kidnappers operating along the expressway was to form a joint police-military operation that will track them down to their base not to just to patrol the road.
“The issue goes beyond patrolling the road. The kidnappers are still alive. They will keep attacking travelers unless they are tracked, dismantled and neutralised,” he said.
