The vehicle conveying the 16 Kano travellers crashed at Rigachukun in Igabi LGA, police say

By Sani Idris

Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano was misinformed about the cause of death of 16 indigenes of the state travelling on Kaduna-Abuja road.

Ganduje said they were killed by gunmen on the notoriously unsafe road, that has become the axis of bandits and kidnappers.

But in separate reactions, the Kaduna Police Command and the Kaduna state government said the travellers died in a lone auto accident.

The Police described the gunmen connection as fake news.

According to Police Commission Umar Muri, the men, including three that are still alive, were involved in a lone accident by their commercial bus on the Kaduna-Zaria expressway.

He explained that the driver lost control at a point at Rigachukun, in Igabi local government area of Kaduna State.

The bus somersaulted killing nine of the passengers while the 10 others sustained serious injuries.

He said the victims were rushed to a hospital at Kakuri, Kaduna State, where seven other victims gave up the ghost.

“The remaining three victims are still undergoing treatment.

“We implore the general public to discontinue the attribution of this painful loss of lives to banditry,’’ he stated.

The Kaduna State government also faulted the reaction of the Kano State government.

In a statement on Friday, the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs in Kaduna, Samuel Aruwan, described the statement credited to Kano State as incorrect and misleading.

He insisted that the Kano indigenes perished in a road accident and were not killed by gunmen on the Kaduna-Abuja Road.