Gunmen Kidnap French National, Kill Two in Katsina

Mr. Frances Colump

Katsina — Gunmen Thursday kidnapped a French national and killed two persons after they attacked a divisional police station in Rimi Local Government Area of Katsina State.
The gunmen, who were in large number, kidnapped the Franch national who is an engineer and identified as Francis.
The kidnappers also injured a riot policeman attached to the kidnapped French national who was working in an ongoing Federal Government project in the area.
The watchman at the French national's residence was killed, while his neighbour was also gunned down after they injured the riot policeman who was at the residence.
The state Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Magaji, confirmed the kidnap and attack on the divisional police station.
Abdullahi explained that the gunmen threw an explosive device into the police station on their way out of the town to divert the attention of the police.
The police commissioner stated that policemen had been deployed in all the nooks and crannies of the state to track down the kidnappers.
Some of the residents who spoke under anonymity with THISDAY on the phone explained that they heard heavy sound of explosion on Wednesday night which caused pandemonium in the sleepy town.
"We saw large deployment of security in the wee hours of Thursday, and believed that the situation is under control as people went out for their normal activities in the town," a resident of the town said.
THISDAY learnt that the corpses of the casualties in the attack had been deposited at the General Hospital in the city, while the injured persons were also receiving treatment.