Assailants kill Aso Rock director, set body on fire

An Assistant Director attached to the State House, Abuja, Laetitia Dagan, has been killed by yet-to-be identified assailants.

Dagan was said to have been killed in her apartment in Galadimawa, Abuja, on Monday shortly after she returned from work.

The 47-year-old Plateau State indigene was said to have left her office in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, around 8pm while the incident happened around 11pm.

She was said to be a participant in an ongoing training for civil servants holding at the Manhattan Event Centre, Uke, Nasarawa State.

Some of her colleagues who spoke to The PUNCH on Tuesday said the assailants set Dagan’s apartment on fire probably after killing her.

“The assailants were so cruel. They tied her and set her with her mattress on fire.

“She was just promoted to the position of assistant director last year. She was always full of smile,” one of her colleagues said.

The PUNCH learnt that in investigating the case, the police are working on a clue on an item suspected to have been mistakenly left behind by one of the assailants.

A State House statement by the Deputy Director, Information, Mr Attah Esa, confirmed the development, quoting the Permanent Secretary, Jalal Arabi, as mourning the deceased.

Arabi said, “She was a dedicated, hard-working officer, and we all feel pained by her dastardly and untimely death.”

Arabi and some personnel of the State House had already visited her family members to condole with them.

Meanwhile, friends and family members of the deceased have taken to the social media to mourn her.

One of them, Comfort Sajoh Gaiya, posted what appeared to be the deceased’s last photograph said to have been taken at about 4pm on Monday, a few hours before she was killed.

“This photo was taken yesterday (Monday) at about 4pm at the Manhattan Event Centre, Uke, Nasarawa State. She was full of life, as you can see. She was Dagan Laetitia Naankang, Assistant Director (TSW) State House. She was murdered by unknown gunmen in her residence last night,” Gaiya wrote on Facebook.