The remains of Colonel Samaila Inusa, kidnapped and killed in Kaduna by yet-to-be-identified persons, were laid to rest yesterday. Inusa, who was Chief Instructor at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Jaji, near Kaduna State, was kidnapped at gunpoint along Refinery Junction in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State on Sunday.
The deceased was buried according to Islamic rites, after which he was given military honour with three gun salutes. Dressed in the national colour of the green-whitegreen, the body of Col. Inusa arrived the old NDA cemetery around 11:45a.m. from the 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna and was committed to mother earth at 12 noon.
Born in 1972 in Nasarawa Local Government of Kano State, Col. Inusa attended Ramat Special Primary School in 1979-1985 and proceeded to Ahmadiyya Secondary School, Kano and obtained his West African School Certificate in 1991.
The late Inusa gained admission into the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1992 as a member of the 44th Regular Course and passed out in 1997 with a Bachelor of Biological Science. He was Aide-De-Camp to Sierra-Leon’s Vice- President and was promoted to the rank of Colonel last year.
His last appointment was that of a Chief Instructor at the Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Jaji, near Kaduna. The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, has vowed to fish out the killers of Col. Inusa, to face the full wrath of the law.
Buratai, who made the pledge yesterday when the remains of Inusa was buried at the old Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) burial ground in Kaduna, said the Army was mourning the death of the slain senior officer who had served the country meritoriously.
Represented by the Chief of Administration at the Army Headquarters, Maj-Gen. Ado Abubakar, the COAS described the late officer as a gallant and professional soldier, noting that the Army was not happy with the way and manner Inusa was killed.
Also, Commander, Nigerian Army School of Infantry, Major General Kasim Abdulkarim, said the late officer who served under his command, was a loyal, committed and hardworking officer who would be fondly missed by his colleagues in the military.
Gen. Abdulkarim urged officers and men of the Nigerian military to take precautionary measures for their personal security. Meanwhile, there are strong indications that the Nigerian Army may have concluded plans to beef-up security around its officers, owing to the kidnap and killing of Colonel Samaila Inusa in Kaduna on Sunday, by yet-to-beidentified persons.
New Telegraph gathered from military sources that particular attention would be devoted to officers in Kaduna State, where the abduction and eventual murder of Inusa occurred.The renewed security consciousness, it was learnt, would not be limited to officers alone, as soldiers have been directed to be extra-vigilant, to avoid a repeat of the incident.
This is even as the Nigerian Army is said to be deploying all available intelligence to apprehend those behind the abduction and killing of the senior officer. One of the sources, who insisted on remaining anonymous, said: “The case of kidnap and death of the officer is not being taken lightly at all. “In fact, security around our officers is being reinforced, to ensure that nothing untoward happens again.”
