Katsina State Commissioner for Science, Technology and Innovation, Rabe Nasir, has been assassinated by unknown gunmen in his private residence in Katsina.
The Commissioner of Police, Katsina State command, Mr. Sanusi Buba, confirmed the incident when he visited the residence of the deceased on Thursday evening at Fatima Shema Estate in Katsina.
Buba explained that the command has started investigating the incident, saying that an arrest has already been made.
“As you can see, we’ve successfully evacuated the corpse to the hospital and investigation has started. An arrest has also been made. A suspect has been arrested and investigation has since begun,” he said.
Rabe, a former Department of State Security (DSS) officer, also worked with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Abuja.
The late commissioner also represented Mani/Bindawa Federal constituency for four years.
He was Governor Aminu Masari’s aide in Science and Technology from 2015 to 2019 before he was elevated to the status of a commissioner.
Meanwhile, the Police Command in Niger State said gunmen killed nine worshippers and injured six others in an attack on a mosque at Tungan Ba’are village in Mashegu Local Government Area of the state.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Monday-Bala Kuryas, who confirmed the incident, said the worshippers were killed during early morning prayer on Thursday.
He said a primary school teacher was abducted by the gunmen, adding that those killed were aged between 65 and 30.
The police commissioner said the six injured persons were evacuated to Kontagora General hospital for treatment.
He gave their names as Umaru Sahabi, Mohammed Maikasuwa, Isa Abu, Mohammed Danbarau, Mohammed Dandangi and Alhaji Dan Mairini.
“We can’t ascertain the number of victims kidnapped, as only one primary school teacher of Tungan Ba’are was revealed to be kidnapped by the gunmen during the incident.”
According to the commissioner, the incident might be a reprisal attack resulting from a long standing communal feud.
He said that additional armed security personnel had since been deployed to the area to track and arrest the gunmen and all other miscreants undermining peaceful coexistence among the residents.
Kuryas urged the people to support security agencies with credible information on the activities of criminals around them.
An attack on worshippers on October 25, in a mosque at Mazakuka village in Mashegu Local Government Area, left many people dead.
