ARMED GUNMEN KILL SERVING ARMY COLONEL A.A. UDE AT ABUJA RESIDENCE AFTER FIERCE RESISTANCE

Tragedy struck the Federal Capital Territory on Monday evening, 27 July 2026, as armed gunmen shot and killed a senior Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps officer, Colonel Abdussalam A. Ude, during an attack at his residence located in the Phase 5 Army Post Service Housing Estate, Kurudu District, Abuja. The late officer, an indigene of Ibagwa-Aka town in the Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State and a member of the 50th Regular Course of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), was ambushed shortly after returning home from work and alighting from his vehicle.

​According to security reports, the assailants attempted to abduct Colonel Ude, but the senior officer put up a fierce physical resistance despite being heavily outnumbered. His refusal to surrender successfully thwarted the attackers' plan to take him away alive, prompting the gunmen to shoot him multiple times at close range. During the assault, the gunmen also opened fire indiscriminately on members of his household. His wife, driver, and security guard all sustained varying degrees of gunshot injuries during the crossfire and were immediately rushed to a nearby medical facility, where they are currently undergoing treatment.

​Before his untimely death, Colonel Ude served in key counter-insurgency operations across Nigeria's North-East and participated in specialized international intelligence assignments, including deployments in Chad and France. Regarded as a highly skilled intelligence operative who was fluent in Arabic, he was slated for promotion to the rank of Brigadier General. Following the tragedy, the officer was laid to rest on Tuesday, 28 July 2026, at the Mambilla Mosque in Abuja in accordance with Islamic rites, while security and law enforcement agencies—led by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA)—have launched full-scale investigations to track down and prosecute the perpetrators.