ABUJA, Nigeria — A resident of the El-Rufai Estate in the Kuchiko Resettlement Development Area, KRDA, Bwari area of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has been kidnapped by gunmen suspected of bandits.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Saturday when the criminals stormed the estate and abducted an individual identified as Chinedu.
This development was confirmed on Saturday, September 2, 2023, by the Chairman of the Kuchiko Resettlement Development Area, Mai Baba Bego, during a briefing with journalists.
Alarmingly, Bego highlighted that this kidnapping is the fifth to have occurred in the region in recent months.
“We are now living in constant fear and uncertainty, apprehensive about who might be the next target,” Bego said.
Echoing the sentiments of the distressed community, the chairman has called on the state to deploy security forces to the area, hoping to curb further criminal activity.
Narrating the harrowing events, the victim’s wife explained how the kidnappers managed to enter their home.
“They broke through our fence and stormed the compound. To deter any resistance, they fired shots into the air, terrifying our family and the neighbors, before whisking my husband away,” she recounted.
Attempts to obtain more details from official channels have so far been unsuccessful. As of the last update, the FCT Police Public Relations officer, SP Josephine Adeh, has neither responded to messages nor answered calls seeking clarification on the incident.
This episode comes amid a broader backdrop of increased insecurity in certain parts of Nigeria, with banditry and kidnapping cases becoming distressingly frequent in some regions.
The local communities and stakeholders eagerly await governmental action and more robust security measures to address the issue.
