Villagers in the Kwali area of the Federal Capital Territory have expressed fear after gunmen kidnapped 29 residents in a night raid.
On Wednesday, residents of the area recounted how the armed gang invaded the community on Tuesday night to abduct the villagers.
Terrorist outlaws, often called bandits, have been active in Nigeria’s North-west and parts of the FCT. But details on the clear identity and motivation of the Kwali attackers have been slow to emerge.
Zubairu Yewuti, a community leader in Kwali, said his younger brother and two of his elder brothers’ wives were kidnapped in his family house.
The kidnappers operated for three straight hours after combing eight houses to whisk 29 people away, according to a report by Daily Trust.
Women and children were among the victims of the abductors. Daniel Ishaku, another local in the area, told The Associated Press the terrorists rounded up the village of their targets and waylaid some locals returning from a ceremony in the area.
“They took people from the playground and then went into the houses,” Mr Ishaku was quoted to have said. “They entered the bush with the people they carried walking on foot.”
The assailants were said to have divided themselves into groups, shooting while they executed their abduction mission.
By name, some of the victims of the midnight abductions include Idris Mohammed, Abdullahi Zubairu, Sani S. Magani, Peter Modu, Ibrahim Mamman, Yellow Abdulrasheed, Musa Suleiman, Simbiya Ishaku, Sumaiya Ibrahim, Muktari Yunusa and Mohammed Yeluwa and Rahmat Shagari, among others.
PREMIUM TIMES contacted Josephine Adeh, the spokesperson to the FCT Police, for an official confirmation of the attack. Speaking by phone, she said she had not been briefed on the attack. She pledged to get back to the reporter but failed till nightfall.
A follow-up call and texts were also not returned.
