At least 48 people were kidnapped in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja in the last seven months, findings by this newspaper have revealed.
21st Century Chronicle’s analysis of media reports from September 2020 to March this year revealed that the figure represents reported cases only, with residents saying that abductions within the FCT have become routine and mostly unreported.
The capital city is gradually joining the league of its neighbors, particularly Niger, Kaduna and Nasarawa states, where bandits raid communities and attack schools, and abduct them for ransom.
Investigations have shown that the highest single abduction was the bandits raid on an orphanage home located in Naharati, in Abaji Area Council, on January 23, where 11 persons were taken captive.
The abducted persons include seven orphans and four others.
They were Jacob Ukpas, Melody Ijeh, Bernard Itim, Isaac Matthew, Elizabeth Andrew, Dayo Udeh and Laruba Emmanuel.
Also abducted were three orphanage workers: Rukayyat Salihu, Suwaiba Momoh, Momoh Jimoh and the security guard, Joseph Matthew.
The situation has become so scary that families of victims don’t report to the law enforcement officers “because they won’t do anything. The police will tell you point blank to pay the ransom demanded by the bandits,” Mustapha Sale, an Abuja resident whose sister was abducted last year, said.
He said due to apparent incapacity of the security agencies to nip the menace in the bud or successfully rescue the victims, “many families of victims don’t report abduction incidents to them. People resort to self help where they can, or struggle to raise the ransom demanded.”
