Confusion broke out amongst residents and motorists along Kachia Road, Ungwan Yelwa area of the Kaduna metropolis on Sunday as a vigilant riot policeman gunned down a member of a four-man masked gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram.
THE PUNCH learnt that the masked gunmen had earlier beaten a police checkpoint while the riot policemen gave them a chase to apprehend the hoodlums.
Blessing Audu, an eyewitness said, “About four masked people driving inside a Peugeot 206 with tinted glasses were being chased by the police who caught up with them around here. We learnt that they had earlier beaten police checkpoint at Barnawa junction.
“As the police blocked the suspects’ vehicles, one of them fired into the air, probably to scare the policemen, but one of the policemen opened fire on the driver and killed him instantly.”
Audu said the other three members of the gang wielding various dangerous weapons scampered out of the vehicle and fled through a nearby bush but the search conducted subsequently by the police for the suspects did not yield any fruit.
She however said panic-stricken residents of the area, guests lodged in a nearby hotel and worshippers in a church close to the scene of the incident scampered to safety following the brief exchange of fire between the police and the suspects.
The eyewitness said the people ran in different directions shouting, “Boko Haram o!, Boko Haram o!, Boko Haram o!, please help us oh!.
The Kaduna State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, however denied that the armed men were Boko Haram members.
Abubakar described them as armed robbers.
“They are not Boko Haram, we will address the press later,” he said.
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