SaharaReporters on Friday has reported that heavily armed gunmen invaded a
community in FCT suburb on Tuesday night, operating between 9:30 p.m. and 10
p.m., moving from house to house while attempting to force their way into homes.
No fewer than 16 residents, including the wife of a local vigilante commander, her
younger sister, and four children belonging to a pastor, have been abducted by
gunmen during an attack on Peze community in the Byazhi area of Kubwa, Bwari
Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Residents told SaharaReporters on Friday that the heavily armed gunmen invaded
the community on Tuesday night, operating between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m.,
moving from house to house while attempting to force their way into homes.
One resident said the attackers had earlier assembled in an uncompleted building
opposite his house before launching the operation.
“They actually came to my house on Tuesday. One of my neighbours was watching
them from the window. They had gathered in an uncompleted building opposite my
house, so they didn’t know someone was observing them,” the resident said.
“They started banging on my door and moving around the house, shouting to see if
anyone would react. The way they operate is that once you respond, they break the
window to gain entry.”
According to the resident, the gunmen threatened to kill occupants who refused to
open their doors. “They will tell you that if you don’t open the door, they will
break in through the window and kill everyone inside,” he said.
The source explained that when the kidnappers could not gain entry into his house,
they moved to other homes where they eventually abducted several residents.
“In total, they kidnapped 16 people,” he added.
Among the victims were four children belonging to a pastor in the community. The
resident said the pastor was not at home when the attackers struck.
“When I later went to the pastor’s house, he told me he had stepped out briefly.
Before he could return, people started informing him that kidnappers were
operating in the area. When he rushed back home, he discovered that four of his
children had been taken, leaving only the youngest child behind,” the source said.
The attack also affected the family of a vigilante commander who had been
assisting the community in resisting kidnappers.
The source said the commander had just left his house around 10 p.m. when a
neighbour called to alert him that armed men had invaded the area.
“He had just left his house when his neighbour called him and said the attackers
had entered one of the houses nearby,” the resident said.
He explained that the commander immediately rushed to the location mentioned by
the neighbour, unaware that the gunmen had already surrounded his own residence.
“He ran to the place they mentioned, not knowing they had already surrounded his
house,” the source said.
According to the resident, the attackers blocked the vigilante commander on the
road when he attempted to return home and opened fire.
The gunmen later stormed his house, where they abducted his wife and her
younger sister, who had reportedly come to visit the family three days earlier.
Residents said the woman had given birth less than 40 days earlier, and the
kidnappers left the newborn baby behind.
“They even ate the food she had been cooking before abducting her,” the source
added.
The resident explained that security operatives later arrived at the scene, but the
kidnappers had already escaped with their victims.
He added that the abductors subsequently contacted the families to demand ransom
for the release of those taken.
Residents said the community has experienced multiple kidnapping incidents in
recent weeks, including an earlier abduction on January 4 that prompted locals to
organise vigilante patrols.
Community members are now calling on security agencies and authorities of the
Federal Capital Territory to urgently deploy more security personnel to the area
and take decisive steps to curb the growing wave of kidnappings.
As of the time of filing this report, attempts to reach SP Josephine Adeh, the FCT
Police Public Relations Officer, were unsuccessful.
