A senior naval officer identified as Lieutenant Commodore M. Buba has been stabbed to death in Kaduna.
The attack occurred after a hoodlum attempted to rob him of his mobile phone and other valuables at the Kawo Bridge.
According to eyewitnesses, the senior officer, who was on course at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, had a flat tyre while returning to Jaji.
“He alighted from his car trying to change the flat tyre, when the unknown assailant suddenly appeared and demanded he hand over his phone. The senior officer refused, questioning the rationale when the assailant suddenly stabbed him in the chest with a local knife,” an eyewitness said.
Suleiman Dahiru, a local vigilante who witnessed the altercation, attempted to help the senior officer but was also stabbed on the hand by the assailant.
However, it was reliably gathered that the assailant was subsequently overpowered and lynched on the spot.
A senior military officer, who did not want to be named, said, “The wounded senior officer was initially rushed to Manaal Hospital but was confirmed dead on arrival.
“The corpse of the deceased was subsequently evacuated to 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna mortuary, for further action.
“Troops in plain clothes, police and other civil security agencies have been mobilised and tasked on covert operations to identify and clear all miscreants loitering around bus stops and other black spots in Kaduna Metropolis.”
Confirming the incident, the Kaduna State Police Command Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, described it as ‘unfortunate’.
He, however, assured that the police operatives are doing everything possible to secure the area and the state at large.
