By GARBA MUHAMMAD, Kaduna

A newborn baby was reportedly yanked from his mother by bandits and thrown into the shrubs in Sunday’s attack on motorists along Kaduna-Abuja highway.

Survivors who spoke to News Express on Monday said the newborn was seen abandoned by the kidnappers who abducted the mother alongside yet-to-be-confirmed number of victims of the attack.

“It was a very pitiful sight when we arrived the scene of the attack few minutes after. We sighted the baby thrown into the nearby bush crying with no body to help. We understand that the mother was among those kidnapped by the gunmen,” a military officer who also narrowly escaped the attack and who pleaded anonymous, said.

Muhammad Sirajo Hamidu, brother of the late Sagir Hamidu, former All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial aspirant in Zamfara State, also narrated how his brother was killed by the bandits.

Speaking in an interview, Hamidu said: “Somewhere along Rijana, my late brother and the other two occupants bumped into bandits who were operating on the highway. Realising that, his driver decided to make a U-Turn in order to head back to Kaduna.

“Unknown to them, they were already in the kidnappers’ den. Three kidnappers appeared in front of them and opened fire at the occupants of the vehicle.”

“One of the bullets hit my brother on the chest, while one bullet hit him on his leg. When passersby came to the scene after the operation, they found his lifeless body.

“My brother’s police orderly was abducted by the bandits while his driver escaped,” Halidu stated.

Kaduna State Police Spokesperson, ASP Mohammed Jalige, did not immediately respond to calls, text message and Whatsapp messages seeking his confirmation of the number of victims abducted and the fate of the abandoned newborn.

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