ABUJA—Gunmen shot dead a Nigerian army general as he was traveling by car on a major road from the capital, Abuja, the army said on Friday, in the first such fatal gun attack on a senior serving military officer. Armed robberies and kidnappings for ransom, particularly in the northwest, have become so frequent that many are afraid to travel by road. Growing nationwide lawlessness led legislators in April to call on the president to declare a state of emergency. Major General Hassan Ahmed was killed when gunmen attacked his vehicle along the Lokoja-Abuja road on Thursday, army spokesman Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu said in a statement. Lokoja, 200 km (124 miles) south of Abuja, is the capital of Kogi state. Nwachukwu did not say who was traveling with Ahmed, or how far outside of Abuja he was, but local media said the deceased general was with his driver and a …