Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have shot dead a man, Hamza Esu, and injured one other person, simply identified as Yakubu, near Ohizi village, in Kotonkarfe local government of area of Kogi state.
A resident, simply identified as Usman said the incident happened last Sunday night around 10:12 pm when the deceased who was riding on motorcycle along with his friend ran into the bandits.
He said the deceased left neighbouring Chikara village along with his friend on their way back to Ohizi village when they suddenly ran into the bandits who were coming out their camp to strike.
“It was when he ran into the bandits and decided to abandon his motorcycle to flee into the bush when one of the bandits shot him on the head and died instantly, while his friend who was sitting at the back was shot on the leg, ” he said.
He said the remains of the deceased was later evacuated by vigilante members from the community who came to the scene and took it for burial, while the injured victim was taken to the hospital in Lokoja.
Daily Trust recalled that over 30 armed bandits invaded a neighbouring Ahoko community last Saturday, in the area and killed a wedding guest, Zakari Kuru, who was said to be sleeping in the parlour when they attacked the house of leader of the vigilante group, Alhaji Ibrahim Adama Gata, in order to kill him but they could not succeed.
When contacted, the spokesman of the Kogi state police command, DSP Williams Aya, did not pick calls or reply text message sent to his phone as at the time of filing this report.