Three injured as gunmen attack Abuja hotel, kill policeman

By GBENGA OMOKHUNU, Abuja

Armed men have attacked Hilltop International Premium Hotel at Tunga-Maje in Gwagwalada Area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The armed men, it was gathered, stormed the hotel on Tuesday night.

They were said to have engaged policemen in a gun battle, which led to the death of a police officer.

The Nation also gathered that three persons who lodged in the hotel were injured while one of them was hit by a stray bullet.

Last June, The Nation reported that gunmen abducted a former member of the Kogi Assembly, Friday Makama, and eight others in the hotel.

A worker in the hotel, who pleaded anonymity, told our correspondent that the armed men shot at the doors of the hotel to gain access and flogged the workers.

According to the worker: “They came around 11 pm. They were many. We have closed for the day and had locked everywhere. They shot at the doors. The guns they shot were much. They shut the person they abduct before taking him away.

“Three people were injured. One of them a bullet hit him while in his room. Police have been coming to our hotel since the last attack, they met them and engaged them.

“They didn’t do anything to us but we were flogged. People that were injured were those who came to lodge”.

FCT Police Command spokesperson, DSP Josephine Adeh confirmed the incident, adding that a police officer was killed during the attack.

She said: “Suspected kidnappers were carrying out their operations and our police foiled their attack and engaged them in a gun battle but unfortunately, one of our men paid the supreme price”. (The Nation)