Bandits renewed their onslaught on Bwari Area Council in the nation’s capital early Sunday morning. At least four people were reportedly kidnapped and one person was killed in the Guto area of Bwari.
The attack, which began around 12:30 a.m., spanned the fringes of the Guto and Piyawe communities and extended into the Tudun-Fulani and Sabon Gari areas, both within the headquarters of Bwari Area Council.
Eyewitnesses reported that two separate groups, numbering over 30 kidnappers, invaded the area, surrounding the communities, shooting sporadically, and forcing their way into people’s homes. The invaders allegedly entered Piwaye through the swamps and proceeded to Guto and Piyawe, where they kidnapped a man and killed a woman in her mid-forties. The deceased, identified only as Madam Alice, was visiting her sick mother when she met her tragic end.
Two victims were reportedly abducted from their homes in Guto, while another person was kidnapped from Tudun-Fulani, less than a kilometer from the council secretariat. A resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said the attackers operated from 12:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. without any challenge from security agencies.
“What happened last night was very unfortunate. We couldn’t sleep from 12:30 a.m. until almost three o’clock. Initially, we thought it was vigilantes shooting, but when it became persistent, we knew these people were back again,” the eyewitness said. “We have had peace for some time now, but unfortunately they have resumed, and this time with full force because it was two groups that entered Bwari yesterday. One was in Guto while the other group was in Piyawe. It was obvious they came prepared because the sounds we heard through the night suggested they had sophisticated weapons.”
Another resident of Tudun-Fulani, who also requested anonymity, alleged that the police failed to respond despite frantic calls to the divisional headquarters in Bwari. “We felt so helpless because the kidnappers operated for over an hour, but there was no police or army to challenge them. I called my neighbor when the shooting started, and he said he had already called the police. We waited for them to show up for 20 minutes, and when we didn’t hear sirens, we called again, but they kept telling us they were on their way. We never saw them until the kidnappers left on their own,” she claimed.
Bwari Area Council had previously been in the news earlier this year when bandits and kidnappers overran the area, abducting people for ransom. A 400-level student of ABU Zaria, Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, and 13-year-old Folashade Ariyo were both kidnapped in separate attacks in Bwari and Dutse-Alhaji, respectively. Both victims were later killed by their abductors following failure to secure their release on time.
Attempts to get a reaction from the police regarding the latest attack were unsuccessful, as phone calls and WhatsApp messages sent to the Police Public Relations Officer for the FCT Command, Josephine Adeh, went unanswered.
