Around 20 residents of Dawaki, a community near Kubwa in the Federal Capital Territory, were kidnapped during a raid on Sunday evening.
The attackers, numbering about 50, raided houses on Frank Opara Street at approximately 7:30 PM before security operatives responded to distress calls.
The Chairman of the Dawaki Rock Heaven Community, Tunde Abdulrahim, spoke to newsmen on Monday, confirming the invasion and noting that the armed men broke into about six houses.
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Commenting on the incident, the FCT police spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, said in a statement that the Commissioner of Police, Benneth Igweh, led a team to the scene and engaged the kidnappers in a gun battle.
“In an immediate and strategic response to a distress call on the attack by unknown gunmen in Dawaki on May 19, 2024, at about 11:30 PM, the operatives of the FCT Police Command, led by Commissioner of Police CP Igweh, swiftly mobilized to the scene,” the statement read.
“While one of the rescued victims is still receiving medical attention, the Commissioner of Police reaffirms the command’s steadfast dedication to maintaining peace and security in the territory. Search operations are ongoing to rescue other hostages who fled the scene during the shootout.”
“They spent more than two hours before proceeding to the neighboring Dakwa community. The man used to work in Abuja with the police Rapid Response Squad (RRS), always parking around his house. But they are no longer around following his deployment to Lagos, though his family is still living in the compound,” the source added.
The traditional ruler lamented that the bandits have established a base behind Zuma Rock in the Chachi community near Dakawa in neighboring Niger State, which leads to some forests around Bwari.
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