The Nigeria Police have successfully rescued Nine Police Officers who earlier went missing on 8th November, 2020 between Kankara town and Sheme in Katsina State after the night commercial bus they were traveling in came under attack by heavily armed men, all dressed in Military Camouflage, but suspected to be bandits.
The officers, all Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs), were on their way to Gusau in Zamfara State from Maiduguri at the time of the incident. Two of them are currently receiving medical attention in a hospital, while the remaining seven are being debriefed.
In a signed statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, Covert operation to locate and rescue the officers commenced immediately they were discovered missing en-route to their destination.
This he stated was responsible for the apparent delay in the force reacting on the unfortunate incident aimed at protecting the integrity and confidentiality of the rescue operation and the concomitant safety of the officers.
Mba who noted that preliminary investigation indicated that the attack on the vehicle was an opportunistic crime as the officers were all traveling in mufti, unarmed and alongside other private citizens in the commercial vehicle,said nine and not twelve personnel were involved in the incident as wrongly reported in some sections of the media.
“Follow-up investigation into the incident is still ongoing with assurances by the Inspector General of Police, IGP Mohammed Adamu, that the Force is working assiduously to ensure an improved safety and tactical presence of police personnel on our highways as the yuletide approaches”, he added.
