GUNMEN, last night, reportedly raided the Bmuko Community in the Dutse Baupma axis of the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, capturing four residents.
Isah, a resident who spoke with newsmen yesterday, said the gunmen came into the village about 11:50 p.m. on Monday, at the home of one Engr Patrick, whose wife and brother were among the four persons kidnapped.
Recall that the Area Council was attacked in January by gunmen who kidnapped 22 people and killed Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, a 400-level student at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, after her father refused to pay the N60 million ransom demanded to secure her and the release of five other sisters kidnapped by the gunmen.
The gunmen also kidnapped and killed 13-year-old Folashade Ariyo, along with ten other inhabitants of Sagwari Estate Layout in Dutse-alhaji Area, which is also part of the Bwari Area Council. In February, robbers kidnapped two adolescent sisters from Guita Community, Chikakore, in Kubwa, Bwari Area Council of the FCT, Abuja, and demanded a N30 million ransom from their family.
According to Isah, the kidnappers, numbering over 30, assaulted Zone C, Road 5 of the community and shot randomly in the air before breaking into the engineer’s house and abducting two of his family members.
“From the engineer’s house, after carrying his wife and brother, they divided themselves into two groups. One group went towards the riverside that leads to Kubwa and Bwari, while the other group went towards the hillside. It was the group going towards the hillside that stopped at a nearby house, where they kidnapped a pastor and another young man. We could not do anything, we were scared to death during the period of the operation”, he narrated.
A resident and leader of the community, who pleaded anonymity, said they heard gunshots at about 12 am, and a landlord on the community platform had sent a voice note that they were being attacked.
“As we speak, the soldiers who went searching for them have returned without rescuing them. The policemen are still in the bush searching for them. We have been demanding a police outpost here in the Bmuko Community, this is a populated environment. Whatever is happening here is not out of the knowledge of the security architecture of the FCT.
“The wife and brother of one Engineer Patrick were also among the people that were kidnapped, and also a pastor. The kidnappers came with AK47 because some of the guys during the night search picked up about two or three bullets of AK47”, he said.
The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, could not be reached via phone call or text, as of the time of filing this report.
