Gunmen suspected to be assassins have shot dead the husband of the newly elected vice chairman of Kogi Local Government Council of Kogi State, Hassana Ishaku Jizhe.
The deceased, Ishaku Gata and one other person, Joshua Jonah, were shot dead by five armed men in army uniform at Tanahu community.
A member of the bereaved family, who escaped the attack, Jerry David, while narrating the incident to our reporter at the community, on Wednesday, said the incident happened on Tuesday around 9:48 am when they were returning from the farm with the deceased.
He said five of them, alongside the deceased, boarded motorcycles to the farm to harvest sesame seeds, when the gunmen laid an ambushed on them.
“We were in a convoy of three motorcycles and I was the one that carried the husband of the vice chairman.
“We were negotiating a bend when the gunmen appeared in army uniform with guns. I jumped inside the bush to escape while they shot the deceased instantly,” he said.
According to him, a 36-year-old man, Jonah Joshua, who was in the convoy was not lucky as the gunmen opened fire and killed him too.
He said he and two of his brothers managed to escape through the bush and trekked about two kilometers to arrive at neighbouring Adabo village, before they finally made it home.
“Two of my other brothers and I had to trek two kilometers inside the bush as the gunmen were pursuing us but we were saved by God,” he added.
He said the corpse of the deceased and one other person were later deposited at Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.
The three motorcycles were recovered at the scene, he added.
Efforts to reach the Vice Chairperson, Hassana Ishaku Jizhe (widow) were futile as she was in mourning, and sympathisers were trouping in to condole her.
When contacted, the spokesman of the Kogi state Police Command, ASP Williams Ayah, confirmed the incident, saying the two deceased were abducted in their homes and taken to the bush.
He said the police have commenced investigation to unravel the circumstances behind the incident, adding that the efforts were ongoing to arrest the killers.
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