The Kaduna State Police Command has confirmed the kidnapping of a German Professor and his associate just as the command said a team of Police detectives from the Special Forces from Abuja and anti-cattle rustling squad has been deployed on a rescue mission for the abducted foreign nationals.
The disclosure came just as it emerged that the government of Germany has warned its citizens in country to avoid travelling to the northern parts of the Country, most especially states prone to Boko Haram attacks.
The Kaduna State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Usman Aliyu who confirmed the incident, disclosed that the German professor of archeology and his team had been working on a site for the past 10 years before the incident.
He also confirmed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris has ordered the deployment of Police Special Forces to Kaduna.
Security sources disclosed that following the abduction, the German Embassy has suspended activities in specific states of the north as an interim measure towards protecting Germans in the Nigeria.
Prof. Peter Breunij and his associate Johannes Buringer were said to have been kidnapped by gunmen suspected to be Fulani Herdsmen at Jenjela village in Kagarko local government area of Kaduna State.
Sources disclosed that the German Embassy after being briefed about the kidnap has set machinery in motion to work with the Police in Kaduna to facilitate the rescue and release of its nationals.
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Reports also indicated that the suspected kidnappers killed two Nigerians who were in company of the abducted Germans because they attempted to thwart the abduction.
The Kidnapped Professor is said to be the head of a four-man team from the University of Frankfurt, Germany working in Nigeria in collaboration with the National Commission for Museums and Monuments and other institutions on the relics of the NOK culture in Nigeria.
An eye-witness who was part of the team working in collaboration with the Germans told newsmen that the incident happened when they had resumed for work at a site at Jenjela village, before five gunmen appeared from the bush and ordered them to lie down.
“They started coming one by one, the first two with machetes then the others with heavy guns.
“There were many people at the site who were working. They ordered us to lie face down and shot into the air to scare people.
“It was at that point that they asked the professor and his associate to follow them and they led them to the other side of the road from where we were and began to lead them further into the bush”.
The witness said the two people who were killed resulted from their attempt to stop the abductors from leaving with the Germans.
“One of us who is a hunter whom they snatched a phone from asked us to go after the men but only one of us followed him and the two men crossed the road chasing after the gunmen.
“When the gunmen realized that the two men were following them, they turned and opened fire, killing the hunter and the other man.”
The witness said the matter had been reported to the police at Kagarko.
END
