By; ABDULL-AZEEZ AHMED KADIR, Kaduna.
Gunmen on Sunday abducted Nigeria’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bagudu Hirse after a condolence visit to the Kaduna residence of Mallam Mamman Daura at No 1 Dan Amar road off Inuwa Wada.
An eye witness who excaped the kidnappers bullet by whiskers gave a detailed account of what happened, asserting that the kidnappers were actually after the former Minister and not Mamman Daura as he and Alhaji Abba Kyari were inside the house then.
According to him, the gunmen numbering four all masked, drove in an ash coloured Toyota Corola vehicle, with another red vehicle parked far away from the scene.
The eye witness who pleaded anonimity due to the sensitive nature of his job, said one of the gunmen approached the ex Minister after he came out from condoling the wife of Mamman Daura over the demise of her father; Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki.
He said the gunman approched them with a pretense of excorting another VIP to the residence while Hirse was charting outside the gate with another friend of his simply identified as Talba, only to pull the safety catch of his gun with an order from one them asking him to shoot before forcing Hirse into their vehicle.
He said the shot bullet flew past his head as he ducked and the bullet hit the wall above his head at the gate pillar to prevent security personel inside the house from coming outside to the recue of the ex-minister.
At the time of the incident, few minutes past 10am, he said Mallam Mamman Daura and chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Abba Kyari were inside the house.
He said the security operatives within the resident were having breakfast close to the gate when the incident happened. The fear that the security may come to the aid of Hirse made the gunmen shot into the air and scared people away he added.
By the time New Nigerian visited the house, Daura and Kyari already left for Abuja.
The Commission of Police and Director, Department of State Security Services (DSS) Kaduna State Commands were said to have visited the house.
When contacted by New Nigerian Newspapers, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) ASP Usman Aliyu said the Police are on the issue and would make public any development on the case.
