Suspected bandits in the early hours of Tuesday attacked the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, the country’s premier military university, killing two officers, injuring many and kidnapping two others.
It was learnt that the bandits stormed the NDA permanent site in Afaka, along the Kaduna Airport Road in Igabi Local Government Area at about 1:00am on Tuesday, when everyone had gone to bed.
The bandits said to be dressed in military fatigues allegedly overpowered the guards at the institution’s gates and made for the officers’ quarters, where they launched an attack on the inhabitants.
One of those killed by the bandits was said to be a Naval officer, while the two other officers kidnapped were said to be in the rank of a Major. Another officer injured in the attack is said to be receiving treatment in a military medical facility.
Military sources, however, told First News that some of the bandits who attacked the institution had been trapped inside the vast premises of the NDA, adding that security had been tightened around the area to ensure that the gunmen do not escape with the abducted officers.
The barracks area within the institution’s premises, where the attack took place, is said to have been cordoned off to prevent the bandits from leaving the area.
The NDA permanent site is located a stone throw from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, where bandits, on March 11, 2021, abducted 39 students. The bandits later demanded N500 million ransom for the release of the abducted students.
The bandits finally set free the abducted students after holding them in captivity for 50 days following the intervention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and renowned Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.
But military authorities had yet to react or issue any statement on the suspected bandits’ attack on the institution as of the time of filing this report.
Also, efforts to speak with the NDA Public Relations Officer, Major Bashir Jajira, have proved abortive as he did not pick his calls.