Zamfara State's Chief of Staff, Moukhtar Lugga, survived an attack by gunmen on Thursday evening when his vehicle was ambushed along the Funtua–Gusau road. The incident occurred at approximately 6:16 pm near Kucheri, where armed men opened fire from multiple directions, according to a local radio station. Eyewitnesses reported that the attackers surrounded the vehicle in what appeared to be a planned operation. Despite the intensity of the assault, neither Lugga nor his driver sustained injuries. The driver managed to accelerate away from the scene, escaping unharmed. A bullet hole was later discovered on the front windscreen of the vehicle. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. As of press time, security agencies had not released an official statement on the incident.
A senior aide to a state governor is being shot at in broad daylight and walks away unscathed—this is not news of failure but of terrifying normalcy. Moukhtar Lugga's escape near Kucheri shows how routine such violence has become in parts of northern Nigeria. When attacks on top officials barely register beyond a local radio report, the threshold for alarm has long been breached. This incident will likely change nothing unless it stops being treated as just another close call.
