BANDITS have shot a police officer while attempting to kidnap the family of the chairman of Bwari Area Council in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), John Gabaya.
The incident occurred on Sunday, April 7, when bandits reportedly broke into Gabwa’s home in the council’s Tokulo neighbourhood.
The officer’s identity has yet to be ascertained.
In 2021, two family members, including the father of the council chairman, John Makama, were kidnapped by bandits.
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They were freed after the bandits received an undisclosed ransom.
Daily Trust reported that an aide to the council chairman said the armed group made a surprise return to the neighbourhood on Sunday around 11:33 p.m.
He claimed that the vigilantes securing the chairman’s private residence engaged in a gun duel with the bandits who had entered the Tokulo area through the Kaduna Forest, brandishing AK-47 rifles.
He claimed that the Bwari Division of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) was notified during the gunfight, and officers from the division swiftly responded.
He said although the police repelled the attack, one of the officers was shot during crossfire.
According to him, there had been three bandit attacks on the council chairman’s family between February 20, 2021, and April 6, 2024.
In a chat with The ICIR on Tuesday, April 9, the FCT police command spokesperson, Adeh Josephine, confirmed the attack on the Tokulo community but said no officer was killed.
According to her, some unknown bandits attacked Tokulo village in the early hours of Sunday in an attempt to kidnap the family of the council chairman.
The police responded, and the bandits shot one officer, but he was not dead, she said.
“The officer was shot but not killed; the FCT Commissioner of Police has visited the wounded officer in the hospital,” she stated.
She further explained that the primary purpose of the hoodlums was to kidnap the chairman’s family members.
The ICIR reported that over 380 persons were kidnapped between December 1, 2023, and January 3, 2024, across Nigeria under President Bola Tinubu.
According to Data obtained by The ICIR from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the victims were taken hostage at various events that happened during the last month of 2023 and the first week of the new year, illustrating the escalating number of kidnapping cases in the country.
According to media reports, residents of Abuja experienced an upsurge in kidnapping activities towards the end of 2023, and it continued into the new year.
Residents of the Bwari area council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were most affected as three separate housing estates were attacked by kidnappers, and about 30 occupants were abducted within the period.
A reporter with the ICIR
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