6 killed in robbery, car crash on Abuja-Kaduna highway

An early morning attempt by armed men numbering about 20 to rob commuters on the AbujaKaduna expressway yesterday led to the death of a policeman and one driver.

Four other persons lost their lives while 10 others were injured in a car crash near the robbery scene.

The armed men were said to have mounted a road block around Jere and were stopping vehicles traveling on the road as early as 6:00 am.

Men of the Special AntiRobbery squad on patrol were said to have gotten wind of the operation and tried to stop the bandits when they were said to have opened fire and in the exchange, one of the police sergeants in the team was hit.

A driver of one of the vehicles stopped by the armed men was also caught by a stray bullet during the exchange of fire.

As the exchange was going on, an accident occurred near the scene and four persons lost their lives while 10 others were injured.

The bodies of the accident victims and the two from the robbery attacks were rushed to a nearby hospital.

The Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mukhtar Hussaini Aliyu, confirmed the incident.

He said “men of SARS were around the area when the robbery was going on and they moved to the scene. One police officer was shot and a driver of one of the vehicles was shot in the cause of the cross fire.”