Bandits abduct man and his five children, shoot two policemen in Abuja

Bandits have shot two policemen and kidnapped seven family members in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). 

According to Daily Trust, a middle-aged man, simply identified as Alhaji, who led policemen to foil the kidnapping of the seven family members, was shot dead by the bandits.

The victims included a father, Mansoor Kadriyar and his five children. 

It was gathered that the man killed by the bandits, Abdulfatai Kadriyar,  was a brother to Mansoor Kadriyar. 

The publication had reported that in recent days, bandits had been been invading villages under Bwari Area Council, abducting and killing residents. 

A resident of Bwari, Isaiah Samuel, who confirmed the incident on Friday, January 5, 2024, said the attack happened in the early hours of Wednesday, when the bandits invaded Zuma 1 in Bwari central ward of the council. 

He said the bandits positioned themselves at strategic places after they had identified their victims’ house, saying the victims upon suspecting a strange sound immediately placed a call to a relation identified as Alhaji (deceased)

“It was when the man suspected a strange sound in front of his house that he immediately called his brother, popularly called Alhaji to alert the police,” he said.

Alhaji was said to be leading a team of police to the house when one of the bandits hiding at a corner shot him dead. 

Samuel said the police also immediately started exchanging fire with the bandits, which he said led to two of the officers sustaining gunshot wounds.

“The bandits eventually succeeded in whisking away the man and his family members, because the distance from the victims’ house to where the police engaged the bandits is far,” he added.

Samuel also recalled how the bandits in the early hours of Tuesday, invaded Barangoni, still in Bwari central ward and abducted three persons, while injuring a vigilante member.

He called on the authorities of the council to come to the aid of the residents by liaising with security agents to tackle incessant kidnapping in the area.

The truth is that Bwari area council is under siege, because for the past two weeks now, bandits have been moving from one community to another killing and abducting people,” he said.