Bandits renew attacks on Abuja communities, 1 killed, 4 kidnapped
Story from Uji A. ILIYASU
Terrorists, in the early hours of Sunday, 30 June, launched a renewed onslaught on the Bwari area council, resulting in the reported kidnapping of over four individuals and the death of another in the Guto area.
According to eyewitness accounts, the attack began around 12:30 am, in the outskirts of Guto and Piyawe communities and extending into Tudun-Fulani and Sabon Gari areas, both located in the headquarters of Bwari area council.
Residents reported that two separate groups of attackers, with over 30 kidnappers, infiltrated the area council.
They surrounded the communities, fired sporadically, and forcibly entered people’s homes, causing widespread fear and panic.
Eyewitness accounts alleged that the invaders came into the Piwaye through the swaps and made their way to Guto where they kidnapped a man and killed a woman in her mid-forties.
The decease, whose name was simply given as Madam Alice, was said to have only visited her sick mother who was staying with her brother in Bwari where she unfortunately met her death.
Two victims were allegedly abducted from their homes in Guto, while another person was kidnapped from Tudun-Fulani, which is less than a kilometre from the council secretariat.
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A resident who preferred anonymity said the attackers operated from 12:30am to 2:30am unchallenged.
“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, suggest they came with sophisticated weapons,” he said.
Another resident of Tudun-Fulani who would not like to be mentioned, alleged that the police failed to show even when frantic calls were made 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 neighbour 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 sounds of 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,” he said.
Bwari area council had been in the news in the early part of the year when bandits and kidnappers overran the area council abducting people for ransom.
Recall that the 400-level students 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 the failure to secure their release on time.