A one-year-old baby boy on Tuesday narrowly escaped death after a bullet fired by bandits almost hit him on the head in an attack along the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

The toddler was travelling alongside his mother and a domestic staff in a commercial vehicle, which was among the vehicles attacked on Tuesday where the Emir, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru, was kidnapped

The toddler’s mother (names withheld) was, however, among the kidnapped victims.

Daily Trust reports that on Tuesday afternoon, gunmen blocked the Kaduna-Abuja highway and abducted the Emir.

A police officer attached to the Emir was reportedly shot dead during an exchange of fire while some of the emir’s guards sustained injuries.

The police confirmed the incident late Tuesday night in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer, Muhammad Jalige.

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According to the statement, an unspecified number of people were suspected to have been kidnapped while two others who sustained varying degrees of injuries are currently receiving medical treatment.

A victim of the attack identified as Asmau Umar said the toddler’s mother was sick; hence, she was unable to run when others were escaping.

She said, “The bandits attacked us around 2pm while we were in a commercial vehicle at the same time and the same spot the Emir was abducted.

“A woman was also kidnapped from our vehicle, she was travelling with her house help and her one-year-old son.

“Fortunately, the house help was able to run while another passenger in the car, who was holding the baby held him tight and ran away with him as well.

“In fact, the bullet used to kill the personnel in the Emir’s convoy nearly hit the baby.”

She said the woman was the only person taken in her car as others were able to escape.

The police said a reinforcement team had been dispatched while coordinated effort was being carried out to rescue the victims unhurt.