Security operatives from the Nigerian army and police have launched a manhunt for the killers of Maj-Gen Hassan Ahmed, who was shot dead by unknown gunmen suspected to be assassins in the Abaji area of the Federal Capital Territory Thursday night.
It had earlier been reported that the assailants, according to a family member, also kidnapped his wife when they were coming from Okene, a town in Kogi State but the Nigerian Army clarified it was Ahmed’s sister, Safina who was kidnapped.
It was further reported that the wives of the deceased were present at the Guards Brigade Cemetery, popularly called Lungi Barracks Cemetery, in Abuja on Friday, where their late husband was buried.
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Former spokesman of the Nigerian Army, Brig-Gen Sani Usman (Retd), in an interview with journalists shortly after the late officer was interred, said the perpetrators of the evil act would not go scot-free.
He said the killers might not know the magnitude of what they had done by killing a serving senior military officer, saying even if they spend years in hiding, they would be caught and punished accordingly.
Usman said: “It is not just the Nigerian Army; this is somebody that was a Major General in the Nigerian Army, a serving one. So, it is not just about the Nigerian Army or the Armed Forces, but it is about the nation. And I can tell you, no stone will be left unturned for those who had hand in his murder. The killers would be tracked, arrested and brought to justice.”
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Speaking during the burial ceremony, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Farouk Yahaya, who did not also give details of the incident, only described it as “sad and shocking”.
Yahaya pledged that as contained in the Nigerian Army provisions, he would ensure that widows of the late senior officer and his family members were taken care of.
Reacting to the incident, a former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani expressed concern that such could happen to a top military officer within Abuja.
“That this can happen to a man of such ranking within the vicinity of the capital city tells it all. May he rest in Aljanna firdausi. Amin,” he said.