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Residents of Byazhi, a community in Kubwa, Abuja, who were abducted by bandits on Thursday night, were released on Sunday following a joint operation by security forces.
Bandits reportedly abducted 19 residents, including a retired military officer, Bankole Ganiyu, and three children. The victims were rescued on their third day in captivity by a joint team of security operatives, comprising police officers, soldiers, and members of a local vigilante group.
The released residents recounted their harrowing experiences, from the moment they were abducted to their journey to the gunmen’s hideout and their time in captivity.
In videos seen by News Central, the faces of the released residents were concealed to protect their identities.
One resident, who was abducted along with his three children, described the ordeal as terrifying. He said he and the other captives walked throughout the night to reach the bandits’ camp, which he described as being situated along a hilly path.
“At my residence in Kubwa on Thursday night by 10:56 p.m. I was kidnapped with my three other children. The experience was terrible because I’ve never experienced anything like it. The next thing they said was that I should lie down and tell them that they picked my daughters and they picked me and they started entering the bush, they took us to the bush path,” said the released abductee.
“All through that night, we were walking till when we got to the camp on a hill path. Then the next day again, all through the day, they kept us in a place, blindfolded us. Then, last night, we walked from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. this morning.”
Another resident said they were beaten, left to starve, and forced to walk from Abuja to Kaduna, being told they were headed toward Katsina. The bandits demanded a ransom of N5 million per abductee, leaving no room for negotiation.
One female abductee, who was kidnapped in Garaka, Niger State, said they were initially taken to a mountain and forced to sit in an uncomfortable position beneath it.
“Very terrible experience. The first location they (2:02) took us to was under a mountain. The mountain was very big, like cast under. So we stayed there. It’s like, you can’t just, you can’t sit like this, you can’t sit upright. You have to bend like this because of the mountain,” she said.
“If you sit upright, it will affect the mountain, which will affect your head. (2:19) So you have to bend, you have to bend like this. That was how they kept us there. Yes, we kept on walking all through the night. When it’s daytime, they find somewhere for us to stay. I was kidnapped at Garaka in Niger State.”
The FCT, once relatively insulated from widespread kidnappings compared with northern states, has seen an increase in abductions in recent years, with incidents reported across several area councils, including Bwari, Kubwa, Gwagwalada and others.
The FCT police reported 104 kidnapping cases in 2024.
