Armed men disguised as vigilantes kidnap family of three in Abuja

Men disguised as local vigilantes and armed with machetes and sticks have kidnapped a man, his wife and their son from their residence in the Chikakore area of Kubwa in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, the police said in a statement.

The kidnappers visited the residence at midnight on Monday, deceiving the man to open his door.

The spokesperson for the Abuja police command, Josephine Adeh, said the police deployed officers to the area after a report of the incident.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that seven unknown men, disguised as vigilante members and armed with machetes and sticks, attacked the residence of the victim,” Ms Adeh, a police superintendent, stated.

She explained further that “the suspects deceived the victim into opening his gate, after which they abducted him and three members of his family.”

A neighbour who attempted to intervene sustained injuries during the attack, the police spokesperson said, noting the injured person was taken to Kubwa General Hospital “for medical attention.”

“The FCT Police Command has commenced a comprehensive search and rescue operation aimed at securing the safe recovery of the abducted victims and apprehending the perpetrators of this criminal act,” Ms Adeh said.

The police, however, urged residents to be calm and vigilant and to report any information that could help their investigation.

Kidnapping in Bwari

Kidnapping for ransom became so frequent in Bwari last year, a situation that forced many residents to abandon their homes.

At least 49 people were kidnapped in Bwari during the year, according to media reports, including the case of Nabeehaa and her four sisters and their father, Al-Kadriyah.

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The kidnappers released Nabeeha’s father so he could source for the N60 million ransom they demanded. Sadly, they killed Nabeeha and raised the ransom to N100 million. However, the other sisters were released after the kidnappers collected an undisclosed amount.

According to a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 614,937 Nigerians were killed, and 2,235,954 others were kidnapped across the country between May 2023 and April 2024.

Noting that N2.2 trillion was paid in ransom, the report revealed that killings and kidnapping were on the rise in rural areas like Bwari.