Early on Tuesday morning, bandits attacked Abdulsalam Abubakar General Hospital, Gulu in Niger State.
The bandits who killed two people were also said to have abducted many people including the hospital doctor and pharmacist.
An eyewitness, Nda Mohammed, who spoke to our correspondent said the incident happened at 2am with gunshots waking residents of the community who started to run for safety.
“They came in the midnight and started shooting, people woke up from sleep in the area and started running for their lives, then they went into the hospital and packed as many people as they wanted including the doctor and left”.
He said the bandits killed a former medical personnel who lives opposite the hospital adding that they raided the hospital abducting as many people as they could without hindrance.
“One of the people they killed is a former staff in the hospital who lives opposite the hospital. I don’t know his other name but we all call him Ya-Tachi
“Nobody stopped them and no security agent showed up not even the local vigilance group members came,” Mohammed added.
Those kidnapped include the head of Peri Op and his wife; the Head of clinical, Dr. John; the Head of haematology, Usman Zabbo; the wife of the head of nursing and his two daughters; the head of medical laboratory; wife and daughter of the chief pharmacist and other relatives of patients.
The state Governor, Abubakar Bello, in a press statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mary Noel-Berje, confirmed the incident.
“The recent attack and killing of some persons at Gulu General Hospital and the abduction of unspecified numbers of innocent people including medical personnel are callous, inhuman and condemnable.
“We are deeply concerned about the recent rise in armed banditry and kidnappings in Gulu communities when we are rejoicing and consolidating in the successes so far recorded in other affected areas, but as a responsible government we’ll not rest on our oars until we triumph over evil,” the governor said.
Bello lamented the spate of insecurity in that axis of the state adding that the targeted attack on the hospital is regrettable stressing the need for swift, intensified security operations in order not to hamper the smooth healthcare delivery in the area.
He, therefore, called on the Joint Security Taskforce in the state to urgently put an end to the incessant armed banditry, kidnappings and wanton attacks on several communities at Gulu in Lapai Local Government Area.
