About 15 persons and a staff member of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, have been abducted by gunmen at the 1,000 Housing Estate along Pegi community in the Kuje Area Council of the FCT.
PUNCH reports that the gunmen stormed the estate at about 11:30 pm on Sunday, shot sporadically, and abducted persons returning home from work.
The chairman, of the Pegi Residents Association, Taiwo Aderibigbe, disclosed the development to journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, adding that among the persons abducted is a staff of the FCT Department of Development Control under the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council.
Aderibigbe said, “Gunmen abducted 15 persons along the abandoned 14 kilometers Pegi road, out of those kidnapped is one Shuaibu Musa, a staff with the FCTA.
“We also observed that the husband of the woman who sells second-hand clothes at the main entrance to the estate was among the people kidnapped while they were returning from work.
“The kidnappers have not contacted the families of those abducted at the moment, but we are still trying to identify other residents abducted.”
The FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh did not respond to inquiries about the incident as of press time, despite telephone calls, SMS, and WhatsApp messages sent by our correspondent.
Meanwhile, reacting to the incident, following an inquiry by journalists on Tuesday, the Director, of the FCT Department of Development Control, Mukhtar Galadima said, “The kidnap incident is true, one of our drivers, Shuaibu Musa, was among the abductees, and he is yet to be released.”
Last month villagers in the Kwali area council of the Federal Capital Territory were gripped with terror after gunmen kidnapped 29 residents in a night raid.
On Wednesday 26th April, residents of the area recounted how the armed gang invaded the community on the night of Tuesday 25th to abduct villagers.
Bandits activities have been active in Nigeria’s North-west and parts of the FCT. But details on the clear identity and motivation of the Kwali attackers have been slow to emerge.
Zubairu Yewuti, a community leader in Kwali, said his younger brother and two of his elder brothers’ wives were kidnapped in his family house.
The kidnappers operated for three straight hours after combing eight houses to whisk 29 people away, according to a report by Daily Trust.
Women and children were among the victims of the abductors. Daniel Ishaku, another local in the area, told The Associated Press the terrorists rounded up the village of their targets and waylaid some locals returning from a ceremony in the area.
“They took people from the playground and then went into the houses,” Mr Ishaku was quoted to have said. “They entered the bush with the people they carried walking on foot.”
The assailants were said to have divided themselves into groups, shooting while they executed their abduction mission.
By name, some of the victims of the midnight abductions include Idris Mohammed, Abdullahi Zubairu, Sani S. Magani, Peter Modu, Ibrahim Mamman, Yellow Abdulrasheed, Musa Suleiman, Simbiya Ishaku, Sumaiya Ibrahim, Muktari Yunusa and Mohammed Yeluwa and Rahmat Shagari, among others.
PREMIUM TIMES contacted Josephine Adeh, the spokesperson to the FCT Police, for an official confirmation of the attack. Speaking by phone, she said she had not been briefed on the attack. She pledged to get back to the reporter but failed till nightfall. A follow-up call and texts were also not returned.
