At least 16 residents, including the wife of a local vigilante commander, her younger sister, and four children of a pastor, were abducted by gunmen during an attack on Peze community in the Byazhi area of Kubwa, Bwari Area Council, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Residents said the heavily armed attackers struck on Tuesday night between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m., moving from house to house and attempting to force their way into homes. One resident noted that the gunmen had gathered in an uncompleted building opposite his house before launching the raid.
“They came to my house on Tuesday. One of my neighbours saw them from the window. They were in an unfinished building across from my house and didn’t know someone was watching,” he said. “They started banging on my door and moving around, shouting to see if anyone would respond. If you react, they break the window to get in.”
The gunmen threatened to kill anyone who refused to open their doors. When they failed to gain entry into some homes, they moved to others, abducting a total of 16 people.
Among the victims were four children of a pastor who was not at home at the time. The pastor returned to find four of his children missing, with only the youngest left behind.
The family of a vigilante commander was also targeted. The commander had just left his house when a neighbour alerted him that gunmen were in the area. Unaware that his own home had been surrounded, he ran to the location mentioned by the neighbour, only to be blocked on the road and fired upon. The gunmen later stormed his house, abducting his wife and her younger sister, who had been visiting for three days. The woman had given birth less than 40 days earlier; the newborn was left behind.
Security operatives later arrived, but the kidnappers had already fled with the victims. The abductors have reportedly contacted families to demand ransom.
Peze community has seen repeated kidnappings in recent weeks, including an incident on January 4 that led locals to organise vigilante patrols. Residents are urging FCT authorities and security agencies to increase deployment and take decisive action to curb the surge in kidnappings.
Attempts to reach SP Josephine Adeh, FCT Police Public Relations Officer, were unsuccessful at the time of reporting.
