Suspected bandits attacked the Paze community around the Byazhin area of Kubwa in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory in the early hours of Thursday, killing a local vigilante and abducting four residents, including a pastor and an 11-year-old boy, it was gathered.
The attackers, said to be about eight, reportedly stormed the neighbourhood popularly known as “Back of Catholic Church” shortly after midnight.
It was learnt that the assailants shot dead a security guard identified as Shuaibu Yerima who was on duty to protect the area.
The gunmen also abducted Pastor Francis Oriade of the All Christian Fellowship Mission, Maitama, Abuja, Jewel Obeh, Friday Isaac and an 11-year-old boy, Delight Okeke.
The incident came barely a week after bandits raided the nearby Kungabokun community and kidnapped a resident on Sunday, heightening fears among residents of the area.
Speaking to Daily Trust on the attack, Emmanuel Isaac, one of the abducted victims’ younger brother, said he first noticed the arrival of the gunmen after they heard a gunshot which was believed to have killed the local security guard.
He said the attackers later entered their compound, some of them carrying guns, while another member of the gang appeared to be the leader.
Then we saw them coming into our premises, about four of them carrying guns. Another member of the gang that looked to be leading them was wearing a mask on his face. We tried to go out a back door, but they rounded us up and told us to get back in the house,” he said.
Isaac said the gunmen tied their hands and that of his elder brother before deciding who to take away.
They bound my hands and those of my elder brother and told me to go with them. But my brother begged them to go with him instead, and they agreed,” he added.
“Police officers arrived in the area shortly after the kidnappers left,” he said.
“About 10 minutes after they left, the police came to the neighbourhood in an armoured van and a Sienna.
“We pleaded the police to pursue the kidnappers, pointing to the direction they took but they said no, that they preferred to go through a different direction,” Isaac said.
Pastor Removed From Room, Sister Claims
Also speaking, Elizabeth Oriade, younger sister of the abducted pastor, said the gunmen gained entry into the house through a window after they failed to break the door.
She said the family only became aware of the attack after hearing gunshots around midnight, adding that the gunmen entered their home about 20 minutes later.
“We saw their presence after some gun shooting around 12am and they invaded our houses around 20 minutes after,” she said.
She said the attackers traced them to the toilet and later dragged the pastor out of his room.
“They tracked us to the toilet, dragged the pastor out of his room, while beating him in the process as, according to them, he made them suffer much for not opening the door of his room immediately.
“They cut one of our wrappers and tied our hands with it, took our mobile phones and also took some cash before taking him away,” she narrated.
Mrs Joy Alex, whose husband, Jewel Obeh, was among those abducted, said the gunmen broke into their house shortly after the family returned from their shop.
She said she had spent more than an hour searching for the house key before returning home with her husband and daughter.
“On that fateful night, I stayed at the family shop located by the roadside in our neighbourhood till about 11pm searching for the house key for more than an hour. So I told my husband to go and check into a hotel until my daughter found the key,” she said.
She said the attackers arrived about an hour after they got home.
“About an hour after I came back home we heard the gunmen were coming. They pulled a window that was attached to the house with tools like a digger.
“Two of them jumped in and told us to open our door. First they wanted to take away my daughter, before they decided to leave with my husband alone,” she lamented.
Mother pleads; 11-year-old taken
The mother of the abducted 11-year-old boy, Erenta Okeke, said the gunmen broke into her house through a window and demanded money while holding a gun to her head.
The woman said her husband was not at home when the attackers invaded the house.
“My husband was not around at the time, so they decided to abduct my little son after begging with them to spare his younger sister who was shivering throughout the period of the operation,” she narrated.
The attack has left the community in fear with many crying out for urgent security intervention to avoid further attacks in the area.
Residents said the slain vigilante was shot in the leg first but bled to death after a delay in getting medical attention.
He was buried on Thursday, following funeral prayers at the palace of the chief of Ijayapi, also located within the Byazhin community.
The spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, SP Josephine Adeh, when contacted by the media platform, promised to investigate the incident and revert but had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
When a reporter visited the area, officers at the Byazhin Police Division were seen holding a meeting with some members of the affected community.
The incident was confirmed by a senior police officer at the Byazhin Divisional Headquarters who spoke on condition of anonymity and said operatives were already on the trail of the kidnappers.
