Attack in the Capital
On Monday evening, gunmen stormed the Kurudu District residence of Colonel Abdussalam Ude, a serving Nigerian Army officer, shortly after he arrived home. The attackers came with abduction in mind. What they encountered was resistance.
Colonel Ude fought back. According to a source close to the preliminary investigation, the gunmen intended to take him away, but he refused to go quietly. That decision cost him his life. When they could not subdue him, the attackers shot him multiple times and fled the scene.
His wife, his driver, and his security guard were all caught in the violence. All three sustained gunshot wounds of varying severity and were rushed to hospital, where they are receiving treatment.
A Career Built on Service
Colonel Ude was a native of Enugu State who had risen through the ranks on the strength of genuine operational distinction. He held senior roles in intelligence and counter-terrorism within the Nigerian Armed Forces, served in operations against insurgents in the North East, and was deployed on international assignments in both Chad and France.
Colleagues described him as courageous and widely respected — an officer whose commitment to the job earned him broad admiration across the military. At the time of his death, he had been on course for promotion to Brigadier General. He is to be buried at the Mambilla Mosque in Abuja in accordance with Islamic rites.
Manhunt Under Way
Security agencies have opened investigations and are actively hunting the perpetrators. No arrests had been announced at the time of publication. The attack has sharpened concerns about the safety of serving and retired military officers in Abuja, particularly those who have held sensitive intelligence or operational positions.
The killing draws uncomfortable comparisons to the murder of retired Brigadier General Uwem Harold Udokwere, shot dead roughly two years ago when armed men broke into his home in the Lokogoma area of Abuja while he was defending his family. The attackers made off with his firearm and other valuables.
A Worsening Pattern
Colonel Ude’s death is not an isolated tragedy — it is part of a pattern. Since 2015, Nigeria’s security crisis has claimed not only civilians and frontline operatives but also the very generals who once commanded them. Retired officers, who ought to be living out peaceful retirements, have been killed, tortured, abducted and forced to pay ransoms drawn from their pensions and the goodwill of friends.
Among the most recent cases is that of Major General Rabe Abubakar, former Director of Defence Information, who was abducted alongside his wife while travelling towards Katsina on Saturday, 30 May 2026. The fact that men who dedicated their careers to Nigeria’s security cannot move freely within their own country — or sleep safely in their own homes — is a damning indictment of where public order currently stands.
The state owes these officers, and every Nigerian, far better than this.