Bandits abduct 6 girls, boy in FCT
Bandits on Wednesday night invaded Gidan-Bijimi in Kawu ward of Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) abducting six young girls alongside a 16-year-old boy. It was gathered that the victims were in the community for the burial of a relative who died recently. Daily Trust reports that the Gidan-Bijimi Community shares a […]
bandits
Bandits on Wednesday night invaded Gidan-Bijimi in Kawu ward of Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) abducting six young girls alongside a 16-year-old boy.
It was gathered that the victims were in the community for the burial of a relative who died recently.
Daily Trust reports that the Gidan-Bijimi Community shares a boundary with neighbouring Marke village on the FCT–Kaduna State border.
A resident of the area, Suleiman Shuaibu, confirmed the incident to our reporter.
He said the bandits wielding AK-47 rifles invaded two houses in the community around 9:47 p.m. and whisked away the victims amid sporadic gunshots.
He said six of the victims are natives of Kubacha village in Kagarko LGA of Kaduna State and that they arrived the community on Wednesday for a burial ceremony.
The source said the bandits first invaded the house of a resident of the community simply identified as Waha, but did not meet him at home after which they moved to the next compound and whisked away the guests alongside a 16-year-old boy.
“Actually, those six young girls who were abducted came from Kubacha village in Kagarko LGA of Kaduna State for the burial of an elderly woman at Gidan -Bijimi community. The bandits, after missing their target invaded the compound where the guests were staying and whisked them away,” he said.
According to him, some residents were forced to flee their homes following gunshots by the bandits.
“Some of the villagers that fled their homes on Wednesday night have started returning,” the source added.
The source, who said one of the victims is his cousin, said some vigilante members in the area attempted to confront the attackers, but were forced to retreat due to the bandits’ “superior firepower”.
The attack is coming hours after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a state of emergency on Nigeria’s security situation.
In a statement on Wednesday, President Tinubu said the development followed a review of the nation’s security landscape, prompting him to “declare a nationwide security emergency and order additional recruitment into the Armed Forces.”
He also authorised the army and police to recruit more personnel. He said the police will recruit an additional 20,000 officers, bringing the total to 50,000.
Our correspondent, who visited the FCT community, observed increased security presence, with operatives stationed at strategic points, including several ambush positions.
The Divisional Police Officer of Bwari Division, Babayola Musa, and the DPO of the Rapid Respond Squad, Zanna Maikudi, were seen leaving the area with their teams. After a brief conversation, they confirmed the development.
Bwari residents speak
Some residents of Bwari area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have decried the incessant attacks on the community by bandits.
Daily Trust reports that the town, which is about 30 kilometers away from the Abuja city centre, shares borders with Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State and Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State. The two local government areas have been notorious for bandit attacks in recent times.
A community leader in Bwari, who craved anonymity for security reasons, said the situation has become scary, with people increasingly finding it difficult to either go to farm or sleep at night in their houses.
The community leader confirmed the Wednesday night attack on Gidan Bijimi in Kawu ward of Bwari Area Council, where six girls and a boy were kidnapped.
Daily Trust further reports that last Tuesday, bandits numbering about 30, invaded Guto village, a community that is a few kilometers away from Bwari town, killing a policeman.
Josiah Isah, a resident of the community, told one of our correspondents that the criminals operated for close to an hour before reinforced security operatives came to engage them, killing two of them.
Late last year, the kidnappers also invaded Paiwe, Tundun-Fulani, and some parts of Sabon-Gari through that axis, which is less than a kilometre to the council’s secretariat.
Mr. Isaac Innocent, a resident of Tundun-Fulani area of Bwari, said the bandits often enter the area through a valley that connects the area with Tafa LGA of Niger State.
Also from Tafa LGA, some bandits recently shot dead two residents of Garam, a community that shares a border with Bwari.
The victims and two others were said to be returning from a wedding ceremony in Gwagwalada, when they ran into the bandits at the entrance of Garam from Sabo-Wuse.
The incident caused panic among residents of Bwari for days until the new FCT Police Commissioner, Miller Dantawaye, visited the community to reassure the residents.
Daily Trust further reports that last Saturday, five bodies riddled with bullets were found near Garam.
The incidents caused panic among the residents of the community and those of Bwari, who are yet to unravel the killers. The Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, had confirmed the incident, saying investigations had commenced to unravel the killers.
FCTA stations special security operation at Bwari
The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had earlier directed that a sector of the newly re-inaugurated Operation Sweep be stationed at Bwari.
The FCT Police Commissioner, Miller G. Dantawaye, who announced this after a special security committee meeting chaired by Wike, said four of such sectors were created, with one in Gwagwalada and the other two in Wuse and Garki districts.
He said there has been massive deployment of security operatives comprising of the police, men of the NSCDC, Army, Navy, Air Force, and DSS to Bwari, to check the growing insecurity in the community.
Our reporter, who was at the town, saw the presence of security operatives in strategic locations, including the road that leads to Gidan Bijimi, where the latest abduction was recorded.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the FCT Police command, Josephine Adeh, said she would find out the details and get back to our reporter.
She, however, did not get back up till the time of filing the report.
Reps begins probe into insecurity in Abuja, non-functional $460m CCTV project
The House of Representatives on Thursday inaugurated an ad-hoc committee to investigate the rising insecurity in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and the non-functionality of the $460 million CCTV system funded through a Chinese loan.
Speaking at the inauguration of the committee in Abuja, Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen, described the growing wave of kidnappings, armed robberies and killings in the FCT as “unacceptable and intolerable,” noting that Abuja, once seen as one of West Africa’s most peaceful capitals is now grappling with frequent violent crimes.
Abbas questioned why the multi-million dollar CCTV project, designed to enhance surveillance and security operations has failed to curb the worsening security situation, saying Nigerians deserve answers on whether the massive investment was properly deployed, abandoned or crippled by mismanagement.
He said the committee’s mandate includes a forensic investigation into the project’s status, operational capacity, level of integration with security agencies and reasons for its failure to deliver results.
Abbas, represented by a lawmaker, Julius Pondi, said the committee is also expected to identify any act of negligence or sabotage and recommend steps for activating or overhauling the system.
The speaker urged the ministers of FCT, Finance, and Interior, alongside the Inspector-General of Police, council chairmen and heads of security agencies, to offer full cooperation, appealing to traditional rulers to strengthen intelligence sharing with security operatives.
Earlier, Chairman of the Committee, Ojogo Donald Kimikanboh, said the worsening security challenges in Abuja had turned the city into a “theatre of fear”, adding that the committee’s task was a national responsibility owed to grieving families and anxious residents.
Ojogo described the failed CCTV project as a “scandal of monumental proportions,” noting that despite the huge investment, the system has not provided the expected security shield for the FCT.
New strategy key to ending insecurity – Prof Animasahun
Speaking on the insecurity issue and the steps being taken by the federal government, the Director of the Centre for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ilọrin, Prof. Gbemisola Animasahun, said the president’s order to recruit 20,000 additional security personnel for the police and army can only be properly assessed when placed within Nigeria’s broader security realities.
He explained that the country is not just dealing with a manpower shortage but a security environment that has become more complicated in recent years.
“Nigeria is under-policed, and that is a fact we must put on the table before any analysis. The security situation had already deteriorated before this administration came in, and what we have seen since then is a clear mutation and convergence of insecurity”, he said.
The professor of peace studies described the evolution of violent groups across the country as a major challenge for security agencies.
According to him, the killing of high-profile insurgent leaders in the past did not translate to lasting peace due to the way extremist factions reorganise themselves.
“We used to rely heavily on what is called the snake theory, which is to cut off the head and the body dies. But that approach is no longer sustainable,” he explained.
Prof. Animasahun said this pattern has left many communities exposed, especially in areas where the state lacks physical presence.
“What makes communities vulnerable is not just the activities of terrorists or bandits, but the absence of the state and if you do not have enough officers to deploy, you cannot project authority. “That is why increasing manpower is both logical and urgent,” he noted.
He, however, warned that recruitment alone would not solve the problem unless accompanied by clear strategy and speed.
He said “The real question is not whether 20,000 people can be recruited but whether we can profile, train, and deploy them quickly enough, considering how fast insecurity is mutating.”
The professor argued that the government must adopt a priority-based deployment model that reflects the varying levels of threat across geopolitical zones.
“You cannot assume the texture of insecurity in one region is the same as in another. Oyo State’s challenges are not the same as those in Ogun, even though both fall under the South West. A doctor treating a patient with multiple injuries stabilises the patient first. That is how deployment should work,” he said.
Beyond manpower, he insisted that Nigeria must embrace a holistic blend of kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.
“Boots on the ground are important, yes, but boots alone cannot solve a problem that also has socio-economic roots”, he submitted.
He added that poverty, exclusion, youth frustration, and uneven development must be addressed with the same urgency as military response.
61 people abducted in the FCT in 2025
Daily Trust and other national dailies reported no fewer than 15 kidnapping incidents in and around Abuja between January 27 and November 26, 2025, with at least 61 victims abducted during the period.
The incidents, spread across Bwari, Gwagwalada, Abaji, AMAC, and along the Abuja–Kaduna and Abuja–Lokoja highways, involved prominent individuals, students, community leaders, and ordinary residents.
On January 27, bandits struck in the Chikakore area of Kubwa, Bwari Area Council, abducting family members of Dr. Adekunle Raif Adeniji, Director of Administration of the APC, who was later killed. Reports said a ransom of N350 million was demanded.
In February, kidnappers targeted several locations including Gwombe Junction on the Gwargwada–Rubochi road, where four persons were taken, and Bwari, where a student of Veritas University, narrowly escaped. Later that month, Eniola Ojajuni, National President of the Afenifere Youth Council, was abducted near the FCT border.
March witnessed multiple attacks, including the abduction of HRH, Etsu Yudsa Garba, village head of Dnako, alongside his grandchildren and five residents. In May, gunmen invaded Grow Homes Estate in Kubwa, seizing two residents, while another incident in Gundun‑Karya ward saw two victims taken with a N20 million ransom demand.
The wave continued through June and October, with victims ranging from a 13‑year‑old girl in Kubwa to three children of Dr. Ifeanyi Ogbo in Byazhin. On October 23, bandits intercepted a commercial vehicle near Aseni on the Abuja–Lokoja highway, abducting 18 passengers.
The latest incident occurred on November 26 in Gidan‑Bijimi, Kawu ward of Bwari Area Council, where six teenage girls and a 16‑year‑old boy were taken.
Overall, the compiled data shows 61 persons abducted in 15 separate incidents across the FCT in 2025.