Gunmen attack filling station, kill 3, abduct 3 others in Niger

Gunmen at the weekend attacked a filling station in Pandogari town of Niger State killing three persons and abducting three others including the manager of the station. Daily Trust gathered yesterday that the gunmen, between 8:30 and 9pm on Saturday, attacked Al-Amin filling station in Pandogari town in Rafi LGA of the state. A resident […]

Gunmen at the weekend attacked a filling station in Pandogari town of Niger State killing three persons and abducting three others including the manager of the station.

Daily Trust gathered yesterday that the gunmen, between 8:30 and 9pm on Saturday, attacked Al-Amin filling station in Pandogari town in Rafi LGA of the state.

A resident of the area, Suleiman Muhammad, said among those killed was one Abubakar whose wedding was two weeks away.

Our correspondent learnt that one of the kidnapped persons regained freedom when the motorcycle carrying him and one of the abductors developed fault midway into the journey to their unknown destination around Alawa forest in Shiroro Local Government Area. 

Another resident, Malam Suleiman who spoke to Daily Trust on phone said the gunmen arrived at the filling station shooting sporadically into the air for more than 30 minutes, adding that the police and military attached to the area only got to the scene after the hoodlums had left. 

He said the abductors have contacted the community leader and were demanding for N3 million for each of those abducted before their release. 

He said the latest incident was coming barely a week after three persons were abducted on their way from Alawa market. 

He said the abductors demanded for N5 million but later accepted N700,000 and released the victims of the earlier kidnapping.

When contacted, the state police command spokesman,  ASP Peter Sunday, confirmed the incident, saying the gunmen were shooting sporadically and that out of the three people hit by bullets, one died while the remaining two are on admission in hospital. 

He also confirmed that three persons were abducted but said one of them was rescued by the police.