…As Police Rescues Five
TOYIN ADEBAYO, ABUJA
Complete mayhem broke out in Tunga Maji in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as gunmen in the early hours of Thursday invaded the community, abducting an unspecified number of residents.
One of the residents, Mr Ezekiel Denzi, said the gunmen abducted over 30 people after prolonged gun battle with the Vigilantee in the community.
Another resident , Mrs Pious Bala said the shooting started in the community at about 1.a.m. and lasted more than an hour, while local vigilante group were overpowered.
She further stated that ;“ It is very unfortunate that such an incident is happening in this hard period. We could not sleep throughout the night. It’s this morning that the vigilantes told us that about 20 people were abducted.
“We have had last week that the authorities were informed of the entrance of Boko Haram members into Abuja but nobody took the report serious. We are appealing to government to help before all of us are killed”, she added.
It would be recalled, that a leaked circular revealed that members of the extremist group, Boko Haram, had build camps in some communities in the territory.
Meanwhile, the FCT Police Command, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) , DSP Anjuguri Manzah said they rescue five kidnapped victims while assuring of deployment of proactive crime fighter measures.
The PPRO in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, stated that, 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 statement reads in bits; ” The Command wishes to inform the public that when it received a distress call on 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 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, a 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 with its commitment to deploy proactive crime-fighting measures to ensure the security of lives and property in FCT”, the statement further reads.
