Gunmen kill three NDLEA men, steal guns

Three operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have been shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Okene.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Commandant of the NDLEA in Kogi State, Alhaji Idris Bello, told journalists on Sunday in Lokoja that the three operatives were gunned down while on patrol.

He said they were killed at about 8.30pm on Friday, October 13, 2017, by the gunmen, “who emerged from nowhere.”

Bello said the gunmen came on foot, adding that the incident occurred close to the main gate of the Federal College of Education, Okene.

He identified the operatives killed as Nicholas Onwumere, Ebun Peters and Abdulrahman Musa.

The commandant explained that the NDLEA officers were on duty alongside three other colleagues when the gunmen struck.

Bello said the officers died on the spot, while the three other colleagues escaped death by a whisker.

He said the gunmen collected two Lar riffles belonging to the dead officers before fleeing from the scene.

The NDLEA boss added that other security agencies in the state had been contacted, saying efforts were being made to track down the killers and make them face the consequences of their action.

NAN reports that the Kogi State Government had in August established a ‘Forward Operation Base’ in Okene in partnership with the Nigerian Army to check kidnapping, armed robbery and other violent crimes.

However, the initiative has yet to yield the desired result, according to residents.

The residents also said the latest killing might be the handiwork of Boko Haram, which had been striking at soft targets in northern Nigeria, having been reportedly degraded by the Nigerian armed forces.

NAN reports that Kogi, seen as the spiritual headquarters of the jihadist movement, had witnessed bloody attacks by Boko Haram in recent years.