The Adamawa State Police Command has confirmed the killing of two of its men by suspected kidnappers around Mubi, in Mubi South Local Government Area of the state.
Mubi, which with its environs constitute the Mubi North and Mubi South Local Government Areas, is a major commercial town about 194 kilometres north of the state capital, Yola, which has recently been haunted by kidnappers.
Only last week, a police DPO, Ahidjo Muhammed and a business man, Muhammadu Mbilla, were both kidnapped in Mubi and are yet to regain freedom.
A report had earlier on Tuesday quoted local sources as saying two police officers might have been killed and six residents kidnapped when some gunmen attacked police and civilian vehicles along Gyella Road in Mubi South LGA on Monday evening
The sources had put time of the attack at between 7 pm and 8 pm on Monday, as the police officers were returning from Mubi police headquarters, allegedly after handing over some suspects they picked up from somewhere.
The sources said it was while the policemen were returning to their base at Gyella Road that they were ambushed by the gunmen who killed the police driver and one other policeman.
The locals added that the gunmen continued their escapade by stopping some commuter vehicles along the road and abducting six travellers.
Speaking on the development Tuesday evening, however, the Public Relations Officer of the Adamawa Police Command, DSP Nguroje, confirmed the killing of two policemen but dismissed the part that six residents were kidnapped in the course of the Monday attack.
Nguroje told DAILY POST in a telephone interview that nobody was kidnapped on Monday, but that some police officers on general patrol saw a certain man wandering around a bush path and, considering the atmosphere of the man curious, the officers approached him.
“From the explanation the man gave, the officers found that he had just escaped from kidnappers,” Nguroje said, adding that the officers then reached the decision to move into the bush to route out the said kidnappers.
“The kidnappers, who were apparently also out in search of their captive who escaped, sighted the officers moving towards them, laid an ambush, shot at them and killed the two officers among them,” the PPRO added.
He said the police command had since mobilised men and officers to the entire Mubi and its environs deep down to the border communities next to the Cameroon Republic to flush out the criminal elements around there.