- Spate of kidnappings prompts security cordon around Abuja
A total of 30 persons have been kidnapped in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the last eight weeks.
And it is the spate of the kidnappings that led to the current military surveillance in Abuja which includes stop-and-search on motorists on roads leading into the city.
Statistics by Daily Trust shows that in the last few weeks, there had been not less than 30 reported abduction cases with September, 2021 alone recording 15 while 15 others were registered between October and November.
Some of the victims were reportedly killed by their abductors while others paid millions of naira to regain their freedom.
On September 3, gunmen stormed Yangoji community and kidnapped a man and his son, Abdullahi Benda and Jibril, respectively.
Mr Benda’s neighbour, identified as Zakari, said the kidnappers came in their numbers with sophisticated weapons.
On September 5, a 45-year-old woman and two of her daughters, Mrs Oladapo Bukola Glory and Moyo, respectively were kidnapped in Pegi community in Kuje Area Council.
A resident of the community simply identified as Abednego said the incident happened around 1am when the kidnappers wielding AK-47 rifles attacked the victims’ house at Zone A Hill Top.
The Chairman of Pegi Community Development Association (PECDA), Mr Taiwo Aderibigbe, also confirmed the abduction.
On September 12, bandits invaded Piri village in Kwali Area Council and abducted two housewives.
The then Spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, ASP Daniel Y Ndiparya, confirmed the incident, saying the command had deployed overt and covert strategies to ensure the victims were rescued and reunited with their families.
On September 26, gunmen stormed Chukuku community in Kuje Area Council and kidnapped five residents: two sons of a civil servant, a nurse and two others.
In late September, three timber contractors, Abdulmalik, Yunusa and Fabian, were kidnapped at a forest in Kuje Area Council.
One of the labourers who escaped said the kidnappers established contact with the families of the abductees and demanded N9m ransom.
In mid-October, gunmen invaded a herders’ camp a few meters away from the police station at Rubochi in Kuje Area Council, shot one person and abducted two others.
An executive member of the Rubochi branch of the Miyyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) who preferred anonymity, confirmed the incident through telephone to Daily Trust.
In late October, an elder brother of the Village Head of Kulo in Rubochi District of Kuje Area Council and two others were abducted on their farms.
A resident of Rubochi who preferred anonymity identified the victims as Mr Solomon Kulo and two other farmers.
Following the incident, residents of Kulo, Zokutu and Rubochi, all neighbouring communities, called on security agents to comb the Sheku Forest in the area, noting that the forest – which is between Kulo and Rubochi – was a major bandits’ hideout.
Two weeks ago, the 59-year-old Chief Imam of Yabgoji Central Mosque in Kwali Area Council, Abdullahi Abubakar Gbedako, two of his sons, Aliyu (22) and Ibrahim (11), were abducted.
The imam’s neighbour simply identified as Shuaibu confirmed the incident, while a family member of the imam said the kidnappers demanded N10m.
The spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, DSP Adeh Josephine, confirmed the kidnapping.
Last Saturday, gunmen invaded Yebu community in Kwali Area Council and abducted the Vice Principal of the Government Junior Secondary School (JSS), Yebu, Mohammed Nuhu.
A teacher who preferred anonymity said the kidnappers tied the security guard at the school’s staff quarters before forcing the victims’ door open.
The Chairman of the FCT wing of the Nigeria Union Teachers (NUT), Comrade Stephen Knabayi, confirmed the abduction of the vice principal through telephone.
Last Tuesday, Giri community in Gwagwalada Area Council housing a staff quarters of the University of Abuja (Uniabuja), was thrown into panic as kidnappers laid siege on the quarters and abducted a professor, his children and three other staff. A manager with NiMet was said to be among those abducted.
Earlier, residents of rural communities in the FCT had earlier raised alarm that fleeing bandits from troubled areas in the North were setting up camps in forests around villages in the territory.
Locals, then said that fleeing bandits had formed camps around Zukpatu, Gadoro, Achimbi, Pesu, Duda, Pani, Gaube and new Gwombe communities in Kuje Area Council, and noted that some of the communities shared boundary with Nasarawa State.
Some villagers who spoke with our reporter said initially the bandits were not attacking them but warned them against exposing their hideouts to security agents.
A resident of Gaube simply identified himself as Ibrahim said the setting up of camps by the bandits in some of the communities had been causing panic among the villagers, noting that residents, especially farmers, could not go to their farms.
Ibrahim said, “Whenever the bandits come across someone on the farm or at a stream, they only caution the person not to report to security agents about their locations.”
He further said the bandits sometimes sent villagers they came across on errands to buy them foodstuff and other items from the town.
A rescued abductee in Pegi who preferred anonymity, while lamenting his experience in the hands of the bandits, said their camps were under rocky hills.
He told Daily Trust that, “Government needs to do something quickly before the situation gets out of hand because of what I saw,” adding that, “I wonder how the criminals were able to arrive at such places with heavy arms.”
A resident of Gwombe Sabo, close to Nasarawa State, simply identified as Alhassan said bandits had taken over the forest around the community.
Alhasan said the bandits came close to the village whenever they were looking for someone to buy them foodstuff and other items.
A traditional ruler in the FCT who preferred anonymity had also warned that setting up camps by bandits in forests in rural communities in the FCT posed a serious threat to lives and property, recalling how bandits had been attacking commuters and villagers on the Gaube-Kuje Road.
Commuters groan at checkpoints
The traffic situation on the Abuja-Keffi Expressway was chaotic on Wednesday and Thursday as thousands of commuters trekked long distances from Mararaba in Nasarawa State and Nyanya in Abuja to the city centre where they work.
The gridlock which was as a result of a military checkpoint forced some of the commuters to resort to the services of motorcyclists who seized the “opportunity” and charged exorbitant prices to AYA in Abuja.
A civil servant, Madam Veronical Ideh, lamented that she was unable to go the office since Wednesday when the roadblock was mounted.
There was the same scenario on the Dutsen Alhaji-Bwari Road as the military blocked the road for stop-and-search.
Troops pushing criminals back out of city centre – Military source
Speaking on condition of anonymity to Daily Trust, a senior military officer said there was credible intelligence that few of the “criminals” had penetrated, but that they had no audacity to strike because of their limited power.
The officer said, “I ought not to say this as a security personnel, but I am saying this because it is important we let people know what our troops are doing. Few of these criminals might have infiltrated, but we will tame them.
“They (troops) are making sacrifices by checking people coming into Abuja city centre thoroughly in order to ensure that those criminals don’t enter in large numbers. So, Abuja residents need to make sacrifices also.”
Copyright: Daily Trust