Gunmen kill former commissioner, immigration officer in Borno

BY NDAHI MARAMA
MAIDUGURI – Violence and alleged killings of residents in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, have remained unabated, as former Borno commissioner of Environment, Alhaji Kadiri Kaza’a; and a senior immigration officer with Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS), Mohammed Lawan, were on Sunday  shot dead at their residences by suspected gunmen before their wives and children at Bayan Railway Quarters and Gwange wards of the metropolis.

The attacks and killing of Kaza’a, according to an eyewitness, occurred in the early hours of Sunday, while that of the serving immigration was about 8am Sunday, before men of the Joint Task Force (JTF) rushed to the scene and condoned the area to prevent further attacks and killings by the suspected gunmen.

Confirming the multiple attacks and killings in Maiduguri, the Borno state Police Public Relations Officer, Gidieon Jibrin said the retired government official and immigration officer attached to the Passport Office at the Customs Area were Sunday morning trailed to their respective residences by suspected gunmen, believed to members of the Boko Haram sect.

He said when the suspected reached their residences in Bayan Quarters and Gwange wards of the metropolis, they asked for the whereabouts of the commissioner (Kaza’a) and immigration officer (Lawan,56), insisting that the suspects, who disguised as errands boys open fire and shot them dead at close range in the chests and heads, before their family members yesterday.

On whether arrests were made, he said no arrests were made, but investigations have commenced, as information provided by some residents could assist in apprehending the suspected assassins that
continue to target policemen, security agents and traditional rulers in the state.

Our Reporter also learnt that the two affected wards have already been condoned by JTF and the police, while the stop and search exercise continued into the night before the 9pm curfew.