Motorist Engages Bandit In Fisticuffs

• Frees Other Victims Along Kaduna-birnin Road • Kidnappers Are Malnourished— NURTW Official

IN what appears like a Hollywood movie, a courageous motorist, Mr. Usman Yusuf, plying the Kaduna-birnin Gwari Road, reportedly engaged a kidnapper in a fight to set himself and others free.

The Guardian learnt the incident occurred along Kuriga, a settlement close to Birnin-gwari, but the time at which it occurred remains sketchy.

When contacted to confirm the development, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Kaduna State Police Command, DSP Yakubu Sabo, said: “I have to get more facts about this. When I confirm from the area commander of Birnin-gwari, I will get back to you.”

Despite all the efforts by the state government and security operatives to wipe out criminal elements terrorising users of Kaduna-birnin Gwari Road, reports of killings and kidnappings of commuters along the axis, have continued unabated. A source, who confirmed the incident to The Guardian, said Yusuf’s private vehicle was among those intercepted by the kidnappers.

The source the kidnappers intercepted vehicles going to Kaduna. They evacuated all passengers and assigned one of their members wielding AK47, to lead them into the forest, as the remaining ones stayed back to cart away peoples’ valuables.

“It was on their way into the bush that Yusuf engaged the kidnapper in fight. He hit him with a stone, collected his gun and threw it into the bush. That was how he freed other victims. He went ahead to report to the police. He, subsequently, led the police to where he threw the gun and it was not found. They are now investigating what happened to the gun. Police are threatening Yusuf over the missing gun.”

Meanwhile, an official of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Birnin-gwari, Mr. Abdullahi Sanusi, who also confirmed the development, said ‘it is true’.

Sanusi said it was possible for victims to escape, as some kidnappers were weak, hungry and malnourished.