Jessica LawrenceBBC News NI
BBC
A delivery driver was threatened at gunpoint and told to drive a car carrying a viable device to a police station in Lurgan, police have confirmed.
The hijacking happened on Monday evening in the Kilwilkie estate in the County Armagh town.
The vehicle, a white Audi, was then abandoned outside at the station, triggering a security alert where a controlled explosion was carried out.
Deputy Chief Constable Bobby Singleton said “everything points towards dissident republicans” being responsible for the incident.
“We’re describing this as a viable device so yes, we would say lives were at risk,” he said.
“It stands to reason this would be traumatic believing you have a potentially explosive device in your vehicle.”
Cordoned-off roads in the town centre have reopened and residents, who were evacuated from about 100 homes, have returned.
Shortly after 11:00 BST, a lorry arrived at the station to remove the car at the centre of the alert.
Speaking to BBC News NI’s Good Morning Ulster programme, Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said that at about 22:30 BST on Monday a fast food delivery driver was “forced to stop their vehicle and threatened at gunpoint” in Deramore Drive.
The man was forced to drive the car, carrying a device placed by the hijackers, to the police station near Church Place, where he later escaped and alerted officers.
Henderson said it was an “absolutely terrifying ordeal for the poor man who was forced to drive the car” and it was a “hugely disruptive and a distressing event” for the community.
“There’s been a really significant policing operation that we’ve been cooperating overnight to make sure the car and the contents of the car were secure and safe,” he added.
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Lurgan residents frightened
Lurgan Town Hall was opened to those people who were forced out of their homes.
Paul Henderson said police came to his home just after 01:00 telling him he had to get out.
“I was in total shock – I had literally just fallen asleep,” he told BBC News NI.
Henderson said he was one of about 50 people who spent the night in the town hall.
He said there was a family with a young child in the hall when he arrived, and added it was “very frightening” to get a knock on the door at that time.
The Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) Carla Lockhart, who is the town’s MP, said those behind the alert knew it would cause “maximum disruption” and that it had caused “utter mayhem”.
“Obviously it’s grim that when we think in 2026 that this is the type of activity that some people want to try and engage in,” she said.
“My thoughts are very much with the individual whose vehicle was hijacked.
“Lurgan has moved on and sadly there’s a small nucleus of people who want to agitate and drag it back.”
Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly condemned the incident, adding the actions of those responsible were “deeply disturbing and serve no purpose other than to endanger lives and hold society back”.
The DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the use of a proxy bomb tactic is a “chilling throwback to the darkest days of the Troubles”.
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‘Hallmarks of dissident republican attack’
Ulster Unionist Party leader Jon Burrows said the attack bore “all the hallmarks of a terrorist attack, probably carried out by dissident republicans”.
He described it as a reckless attack, which could have endangered local people and police officers.
“I think it’s a reminder that while they’ve been heavily infiltrated and dismantled, there still remains lethal intent and capability of dissident republicans,” he said.
“To traumatise someone who is out doing a job, point a gun at them, traumatise them by asking them to transport what they believe to be a bomb to a police station, is utterly cowardly.”
Upper Bann MLA John O’Dowd said the people behind the incident “represent no one but themselves, and stand isolated from the community”.
“Progress will not be stymied by these people, Lurgan will continue to move forward.
“I want to once again thank all those who helped and offered shelter to those families who were out of their homes as a result of this alert.”
The Sinn Féin minister also offered his solidarity to the delivery driver who went through a “terrifying experience”.
Justice Minister Naomi Long said it was a “shameful and dangerous attack” which put lives at risk.
“There is absolutely no place for this utterly reckless and abhorrent behaviour,” the Alliance party leader said.
Social Democratic and Labour Party leader Claire Hanna said the use of a gun in the hijacking was very concerning.
“The people behind this showed absolutely no regard for the driver, the local community or police officers, whose lives could have been put at risk,” she said.
Policing Board chairman Mukesh Sharma said those responsible were “living in a past that nobody wants”.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn called it a “reckless act of violence”, adding that it showed “a callous disregard for the community in Lurgan”.
“There is no place for this in Northern Ireland, and those responsible must be held to account,” he said.
“I would urge anyone with information to contact the police.”
