A Nigerian senior army officer who was
kidnapped over the weekend was found dead
Tuesday night. Col. Samaila Inusa’s body was
found near a village in northern Kaduna state,
where he was abducted, and investigators
believe he was killed the same day he was
taken, the Nigerian army said.


“The Nigerian Army wishes to regrettably inform
the public that Colonel Samaila Inusa who was
kidnapped on Sunday 27th March 2016, was
found dead today at about 6:00 p.m.,” Nigerian
army spokesman Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman
said in an online statement Tuesday.


“Preliminary investigation revealed that most
likely the late senior officer was killed same day
he was kidnapped by his abductors. This is
because the body was found already
decomposing around Ajyaita village off Eastern
Bypass Kaduna, Kaduna state.”


Inusa, a serving officer at the Nigerian Army
School of Infantry in Jaji, was in his car with his
wife when unknown gunmen intercepted his
vehicle Saturday night near the state-run
Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.’s refinery
junction in the Chikun local government area.
They later dropped off Inusa’s wife and drove
away with him in his car, heading toward
Nigeria’s capital of Abuja. It remains unknown
how many abductors there were and what their
motive was for the kidnapping.


The Nigerian army has offered a 1 million naira
reward (about $5,020) to anyone with useful
information that could lead to the arrest of
Inusa’s abductors. It also launched a manhunt
to rescue the colonel, but the operation has
proved unsuccessful. His kidnappers reportedly
never communicated any demands, according to
Nigerian newspaper THISDAY.


The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, a minority
Shiite Muslim sect in the north, has denied any
involvement, after THISDAY quoted a “reliable
intelligence officer” saying the kidnapping might
be revenge against the Nigerian army over the
deadly raids last year in the northern city of
Zaria in Kaduna state. The military raids ended
in the reported killings of several members of
the group and the arrest of their leader, Ibrahim
Zakzaky. The Islamic Movement of Nigeria called
the claim “false, unsubstantiated and
mischievous” and condemned all forms of
violence, saying its members would never use
crime to meet any of its objectives.


“Crime and criminal activities are fundamentally
sinful and are not in our character,” Ibrahim
Musa, a spokesman for the religious group, said
in an online statement Monday.


The raids on the Shiite sect occurred a day after
members tried to block a convoy carrying
Nigerian army chief of staff Lt. Col. Tukur
Buratai to an inauguration ceremony for recruits
in Zaria, witnesses had told Reuters. At least
seven people, including Zakzaky’s deputy and
chief spokesman, were apparently killed in the
clash. Usman, the Nigerian army spokesman,
accused Islamic Movement of Nigeria members
of trying to assassinate Buratai and said
soldiers were forced to shoot in defense when
the group’s members refused to move out of the
convoy’s way.


www.ibtimes.com/nigerian-army-officer-kidnapping-update-col-samaila-inusa-found-dead-kaduna-state-2345029