Despite the security measures being put in place by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), kidnapping activities tend to be on the rise in and around the nation’s capital. Our reporter examines some of these measures, viz-s-viz the number of incidents, especially at the rural communities recently.
In recent times, residents of the Federal Capital Territory and its environs have been witnessing an upsurge in kidnapping, Daily Trust Saturday reports.
Last Sunday, the FCTA listed Bwari, Kuje and Abaji as the area councils that are worst hit by kidnapping.
The Director of Administration and Finance, FCTA Security Services Department, Ebele Molokwu, made this known during the end of the year media briefing on the activities of the department.
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She said major kidnapping incidents in the territory were usually from those councils although there are some isolated cases in the other area councils.
She said the administration was determined to check both kidnapping and ‘one chance’ syndicates in the territory.
On his part, the Director of the Department, Adamu Gwary, said the security committee had been divided into two, the kinetic, made up of core security agencies, and the non-kinetic, involving the traditional rulers and other relevant stakeholders.
Worrying cases
On September 2, gunmen invaded an estate in Kuchiko Resettlement Development Area (KRDA) of Bwari, abducting a resident. The incident happened in the early hours of that fateful day in the area, popularly known as El-Rufai Estate.
The victim, Chinedu, was whisked away from his house. His wife told Daily Trust Saturday that the kidnappers, who were fully armed, took away her husband after breaking through the fence to gain entrance into their compound.
“They shot sporadically in the air to scare our family members and neighbours before taking my husband away,” she said.
The chairman of the Kuchiko Resettlement Development Area, Mai Baba Bego, disclosed that the incident brought to five, the number of kidnap cases that have occurred in the area in the last couple of months.
“We now live in fear as nobody knows who the next victim would be,” Bego said.
He called for the deployment of security personnel to the area to avert further incidents.
On September 8, Mistura Olasinde, a resident of the FCT and her two daughters Hauwa and Fatima, got the shock of their lives when they were attacked in the nation’s capital.
According to the victim’s husband, Surajudeen Olasinde, the incident happened around Galadima District.
Olasinde, a staff member of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), said his wife and children were driving home in their Toyota Highlander from Garki to Starwood Estate where they reside.
“Their abduction happened around 7pm last Friday on their way from Garki. Immediately they reached Kabusa Garden Estate at the spot where the road was bad, the kidnappers came out from the nearby bush and attacked them. They started shooting to scare people away before they marched them into the bush.
“I was not in Abuja when it happened because I have been transferred to Kwara State. But I was told that the police and the vigilantes searched the bush all through 3am on Saturday without success.
“We also contacted officers of the State Security Service (SSS). They tracked the kidnappers’ movement and the search got to a forest in Kuje,” he said.
Olasinde, who arrived in Abuja on Saturday, said their captors called his brother-in-law to demand a N100million ransom.
“They later brought it down to N50million, then N10m. But at the end of the day, they asked us how much we had with us. The kidnappers even told us that if they killed my wife and my two daughters they could sell their body parts above whatever amount we claimed to have.
“We resorted to pleading with them not to harm or kill my family,” he said.
On September 19, kidnappers invaded Pavu village in Gaube ward of Kuje Area Council and killed the Madaki, Manasseh Gambo and abducted 9 others.
A resident, Samson Ishaya, gave the names of those abducted as Haruna Musa, Josiah Gonna, Emmanuel Haruna, Afayinya Josiah, Benjamin Thomas, Sister Gift, Shalom Josiah, Patience Thomas and FearGod Thomas.
He further said, “Unfortunately, the Madaki, who is the second in command to the village head, was shot dead by the kidnappers when he attempted to escape.”
Ishaya further said that the kidnappers burgled shops.
On October 26, kidnappers invaded Grow Homes Estate along Kuchibiyi in the Kubwa area and captured three persons.
The victims, a couple and a man, were kidnapped from two separate apartments in the estate.
When our reporter visited the area, residents were apprehensive.
It was gathered that the gunmen escaped through the bush track that links the community to another village.
A security source at the estate who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said that after storming the area around 9pm, the gunmen shot sporadically into the air to scare people.
Narrating how the incident happened, the source said, “On Thursday, around 9pm, we (vigilante) heard a gunshot, after which we and some Nigeria Mobile Police officers searched around.
“On our way, we saw one of us who told us that they were kidnappers numbering over 20. He was shot in his hand. At that point, we heard another gunshot. They were shooting at us while the officers were shooting too.
“We had to stop the counterattack because of their number. They took away three persons – a couple and a man. The kidnappers haven’t contacted anyone yet.”
A resident of the area, Bello Mohammed, said the kidnappers disconnected the alert systems of the houses attacked before whisking their victims away.
On November 20, eight women were again abducted on a farm in Gwombe village in Gwargwada chiefdom in Kuje Area Council.
A resident of Gwargwada, Usman Yakubu, said the incident happened around 5pm. He said the women, all housewives, were harvesting benni-seed when the gunmen wielding AK-47 rifles appeared and surrounded them.
A chief from a village in the chiefdom who preferred anonymity confirmed the abduction, saying, “In fact, four among the women are from one house.
“I suspect that these gunmen that abducted our women are among those ones that escaped from neighbouring Kabbi village who were roaming inside the bush after Miyetti Allah vigilantes neutralised some of them over the weekend.”
On November 22, gunmen attacked Mpape community in Bwari Area Council, killed a resident and abducted eight others, including the chief of the GRA community.
The incident took place around 9pm in the GRA on the outskirts of the town, where the attackers numbering about 30 raided at least six houses, including the chief’s palace.
A resident, Josephine David, said the chief, Peter David, her brother, was abducted alongside his wife and three children.
Residents raise concern
Muhammmed Isah told Daily Trust Saturday that he is more concerned than scared about the situation.
“As a resident, I am concerned about the incident but not so scared because this used to be one of the safest places in the country,” he said.
Another resident, Sunday Mensah, lamented that part of the reason kidnapping remains a thriving business in the nation’s capital is because many Nigerians have come to believe that being rich is the ultimate life goal.
Mensah said, “It is a pity that Nigerian youths have been brainwashed into believing that they need to get money to have their way. This has spurred them to get money by hook or crook. This is also responsible for the high rate of kidnapping and ritual killings in the country. I heard recently of a wife who took to kidnapping to get money from the husband. Greed is a psychological problem.”
Another resident who identified himself as Bello also said, “The enduring spirit of due process of attaining wealth is no longer there as only few people ask questions when they observe that something does not add up. People celebrate those who acquire ill-gotten wealth and give them chieftaincy titles. In some cases, they are given major responsibilities in the society.
“The implication of this is that it spreads like wildfire. Kidnapping is also on the rise because of the high rate of poverty, hopelessness, joblessness, and majorly, lack of the fear of God.”
Lawmaker calls for drastic action
Reacting to the situation, the member representing Abuja South federal constituency, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya, called on the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to deploy anti-kidnapping officers to flush out bandits terrorising and killing residents of the FCT.
Ajiya made the call on Tuesday when he moved a motion at the plenary of the House of Representatives for an urgent need to address the recurring cases of kidnapping and killing of residents of Kwali and Kuje area councils. He noted that the security of lives and property of citizens was the fundamental responsibility of government at all levels; hence there’s an urgent need for synergy among security agents to address the situation.
Wike sets up JTF on cross-border crimes
Meanwhile, the Minister of the FCT, Nyesome Wike, has established two joint task forces made up of all the security agencies in the territory, in an effort to end cross-border banditry, as well as the activities of one-chance robbers.
This was announced in Abuja by the commissioner of police, FCT command, Haruna Garba, at the conclusion of a Security Council meeting presided over by the minister.
“The FCT Security Council meeting discussed ways and means to flush out criminal elements in the territory, stop cross-border crimes and curb the menace of one-chance.
“Consequently, it was resolved to set up a joint taskforce of all security agencies on the menace of one-chance.
“Also, a joint task force on cross-border crimes to tackle the issue of armed robbers, kidnappers and all forms of crimes in the FCT will be set up.
“These two security operations have commenced in earnest. We wish to assure residents of our resolve to curb all forms of criminalities in the territory,” Garba said.
Security experts proffer solutions
In his comment on the issue, a security expert, Olagunju Afeez, emphasised the need to use professionals to tackle the spate of banditry and kidnapping confronting the territory.
Afeez said if the government refused to take a prompt action in tackling insecurity, crime rates would increase to an unmanageable level.
Emmanuel Adeolu, another security consultant, opined that there should be an immediate campaign against travelling at night at this period.
