Tragedy struck in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in the wee hours of Thursday as several armed bandits invaded Tungan Maje, a suburb of the town and abducted an unspecified number of residents after a gun duel with operatives attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the FCT Police Command.
Tribune Online gathered that the hoodlums in their numbers armed to the teeth reportedly stormed the community located on Abuja- Kaduna Expressway, overpowered the local vigilante members and started shooting sporadically to alert the villagers of their presence.
A source told Tribune Online that while this was in progress, they moved from one house to another to carry out the abduction of some residents before police operatives arrived the scene following a distress call.
The source further explained that the hoodlums arrived the community at about 12.15 a.m. and operated for almost two hours before the arrival of the police who engaged them in a fierce gun battle during which five of the abducted residents were rescued while the bandits reportedly escaped with others.
The attack is coming days after the Nigerian Customs Service reportedly raised an alarm through an internal memo that members of the Boko Haram sect had infiltrated the FCT, Abuja and its environs and were set to strike at any moment.
However, the spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, DSP Anjugur Manzah, confirmed the incident in a statement made available to newsmen but said only 10 residents were involved and that five of victims were rescued while the bandits escaped with others.
According to Manzah, “The FCT police command wishes to assure the public that protection of lives and property remains the core of its policing mandate and it will continue to inject fresh strategies that will place the security of the Federal Capital Territory at its optimum.
“The Command wishes to inform the public that when it received a distress call on the kidnap of some persons on 10th September 2020 at about 0130hrs in Tungan Maje, a village bordering FCT and Niger state, a joint team of police operatives from the command’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Rapid Response Squad and Zuba Police Division responded swiftly to the occasion.
“During a fierce gun confrontation with the heavily armed hoodlums, the police team successfully rescued five of the kidnapped victims.
“Meanwhile, concerted effort has been deployed to rescue the remaining five victims that are still with the hoodlums who escaped into Niger State through a nearby forest that is surrounded by rocky terrain.
“The command reassures members of the public on its commitment to deploy proactive crime-fighting measures to ensure the security of lives and property in FCT.”
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