GUNMEN invaded the Nigerian Army Post Housing Estate in the Kurudu area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the late hours of Thursday, January 18, and abducted two residents.
The incident occurred at about 10.00p.pm.
One of the abductees is the wife of a lawyer, Cyril Adikwu, and the other is his in-law.
According to residents of the area, the kidnappers invaded the estate, shooting sporadically in the air and fled with the abductees before soldiers arrived at the scene.
“We heard the gunshot in the barrister’s house, and then we alerted the estate’s management, who immediately swung into action. In a short time, Army people came around and started shooting too, but before they came, the kidnappers had taken the wife and one of the in-laws of the barrister.
“This is really traumatising because we could not sleep throughout the night due to fear of the kidnappers coming back. President Tinubu should please help Nigerians put an end to this barbaric act by the kidnappers,” a resident, Austine John, told jounalists.
The ICIR reached out to the spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, Clement Nwachukwu, over the issue, but he has yet to reply to a call and text message to his phone number.
Recently, there has been an upsurge in the rate of kidnapping within the Nigeria’s capital.
The ICIR reported that some FCT residents had abandoned their homes due to several successful abductions by bandits within their communities.
Several kidnap cases were recorded in the FCT during the festive period, including the mass abduction of about 23 residents of Dei-dei, Bwari, and 12 others in Gbaupe, a rural community along Airport Road.
Since the New Year, several successful abductions have also been carried out by kidnappers.
On Wednesday, January 17, the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, said his administration would not tolerate abductions.
He also warned area council chairmen to be more proactive in security matters.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.