Gunmen Wednesday night assassinated the Katsina State Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr Rabe Nasir.
Police authorities and residents said Dr Nasir was killed in his house located at Fatima Shema Quarters in Katsina city.
Few hours after the killing, bandits in their numbers stormed a mosque in Niger State where they killed 15 worshippers.
The Katsina incident
Preliminary investigations revealed that the Katsina commissioner was killed in his sitting room and his corpse locked in a toilet in the house.
There were traces of blood at the potion where he was killed and at the toilet where the corpse was locked.
It was learnt that it took several hours for security agents to retrieve the corpse after the doors were forced open.
One of the persons who saw the dead body said there were knife cuts in his belly and other parts of his body.
Governor Aminu Bello Masari, top members of his cabinet and security operatives were at the residence of the commissioner when the body was removed.
Police Commissioner Sanusi Baba and Director of State Security Service (SSS) were also on ground as their men forced open the door of the apartment where Dr Nasir was killed.
The deceased’s phone and that of another person were recovered at the scene.
The police commissioner said the assailants stormed the house of the deceased Wednesday night and killed him.
“The unfortunate incident happened last night,” he said, adding that the corpse had been taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina.
Some people living in the area said the assailants must have taken advantage of his been alone in the house to carry out the heinous act.
It was learnt that when the commissioner sensed danger, he attempted to escape but the assailants blocked him.
“We strongly suspect assassination because the attackers killed him and locked his corpse in one of the toilets in the house,” a source who craved for anonymity, said.
“The corpse was discovered today Thursday,” he said.
The story went viral as people from different places stormed the house.
Another source said several hours after his housekeepers waited when they reported for work in the morning without seeing him, they peeped through a window and saw blood.
“That was when they raised the alarm… He must have been killed at night,” the source said.
Security officials said a suspect had already been arrested in connection with the incident but that could not be verified as of the time of filing this report.
Nasir, 61, was a former member of the House of Representatives (Mani/Bindawa Constituency). His sojourn at the National Assembly was reportedly momentous because of the roles he played.
He was a member of the 9-member panel that investigated then speaker Patricia Etteh over the renovation of the residences of the speaker and deputy speaker.
Nasir was appointed a special adviser to Masari before he was elevated to the position of commissioner.
15 killed in Niger mosque
In Niger State, no fewer than 15 worshippers were reportedly killed while dozens sustained injuries in a fresh attack in Ba’are village, Mashegu Local Government Area of the state.
The bandits, in their large number, reportedly invaded a mosque in the early hours of Wednesday when villagers were performing their early morning (Subh) prayer and killed 15 of them.
A source who spoke in confidence said the injured were taken to Kontagora General Hospital.
The state Commissioner of Police, Monday Bala Kuryas, who confirmed the incident, however, said nine people were killed during the attack.
“Niger State Police Command has already drafted security personnel to the affected area to further safeguard lives and properties in that community,” he said.
He said security agencies would continue to discharge their responsibility of protecting the lives and properties of Nigerians, and called for credible intelligence from the public to succeed.
The attack on Ba’are village came less than two months after bandits invaded a mosque in Maza-Kuka community in the same LGA and killed 18 worshippers during the early morning prayers.
