Fear now grips residents of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), over incessant attacks and kidnapping as kidnappers and other criminals seemed to have found a safe haven in bushy areas in the nation’s capital. GBENGA OMOKHUNU reports
Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have started experiencing attacks from kidnappers and miscreants who now take the advantage of bushes around the city and satellite towns to perpetrate their evil acts. Several cases of such evil acts have been occurring both day and night. Many have fallen victim to attacks at the popular NNPC junction near the national mosque where their valuables were snatched at gunpoint despite the fact that the police patrol team was not too far from the incident.
Findings revealed that most of the bushy areas are without streetlight at night, thereby making the areas dangerous. In a recent attack, a civil servant, Mr. Obiora Onu, was robbed by some hoodlums at the popular NNPC junction at about 8pm. Onu, who narrated his ordeal to Abuja Review after he was discharged from the hospital, thanked God for saving his life. “Abuja is dark and it has become very dangerous to move around, particularly at night. I just pulled by the road to urinate around 8pm at the NNPC junction. I was coming from the Radio House where I went to see someone. So from that bush just beside the road, some hoodlums came behind me and attacked me. I did not see them as they were approaching me.
“When I got to the hospital that night, I was told that there was no week that such an incident wouldn’t happen. People, the nurses said, are usually rushed in with different cuts on their body. The police officers at the Wuse police station where I reported the incident are also aware of the sad development and they confirmed it. They said it is always a recurring decimal.
“The prosecutor at the station also told me that when they take those boys to court, they will go and free them and the hoodlums will find their way back to the streets. That fateful day, I was in the company of two other men, including my little child in the car. I thank God that I was not injured too badly. So I drove myself to the hospital. I am still receiving treatment at home. My advice to people is that they should be wary of the bushes because from the look of things all the bushes are not safe. They should avoid them at night and even in the day. They made away with my phones, laptop and other valuables.”
Investigation by Abuja Review also showed that some people had been kidnapped around a bush close to the Yar’Adua Center not too far from the Sheraton Hotel. One could imagine that Abuja, being the seat of power, is well policed to prevent crimes, but that is not the case as at present. The city, like many other cities in the country, has its black places. Do not drive to some places in the FCT with your car window glass wound down even if the car is not air-conditioned. The places include the junction linking NNPC Towers in the Central Area, National Mosque and Zone Four. There is a traffic light at the junction, which makes the place dangerous.
Investigation showed that many women motorists have lost their handbags and other valuables to common thieves and hoodlums who predate the place. A resident who spoke to Abuja Review, Ibrahim Ahmed, said he has been robbed twice at a bush close to Area 3 junction. “On that fateful evening when I closed from work, I rushed to area 3 to board a bus to Nyanya. As I was waiting for a car, I saw some young men positioned after coming out of a bush nearby. They beckoned me to come close and cooperate with them.
“When I got there, they quietly cornered me on one side and dispossessed me of my hand bag containing my phone, N40, 000, debit cards, identity card and my international passport. It looks like a drama to me, until a few minutes later when it was done to me that the whole game was real.”
However, investigation by Abuja Review revealed that the cases mentioned above are just a few out of the many cases being recorded everyday across the Abuja metropolis and other satellite towns. People said personal belongings of victims worth millions of naira are lost on a daily basis on account of the actions of these nefarious people. Worried by the level of losses, the victims requested that the police and other security officials be positioned at these dark spots at night to guarantee the security of passers-by.
Not too long ago, terrorists were reported to have set up camps in Kunyam bush along Airport road off DIA Staff quarters, Robochi/Gwagwalada Forest and Kwaku Forest Kuje all in Abuja. A community leader who preferred anonymity expressed concern on recent threats posed by the report of the establishment of terror camps in the territory. He said the development had caused serious concerns among his subjects who now sleep with one eye open. He said it was unfortunate that his chiefdom was among the areas said to be host to terrorists. “I quickly summoned elders and hunters in my chiefdom to ensure that they keep an eye on any of the forests around if it is true that the terrorists have occupied any within my chiefdom, but till now, I have not heard anything yet,” he said.
But a traditional ruler in Kuje area council who also preferred anonymity said he was surprised to read in the media that a forest around the axis had been taken over by terrorists. “In fact, the very forest mentioned is not within my chiefdom; it falls under Kuje chiefdom. There is less fear among my people as they go to their farms and come back home without any report.”
The monarch urged the FCT Administration to deploy security agents to comb forests around the FCT to forestall any imminent attack. In the face of several security challenges, security outfits like the police, DSS, NSCDC, and the Nigerian Army Guards Brigade have been patrolling roads in the nation’s capital. Another pathetic scenario was the attack on the Abuja Bureau Chief of the Nigerian Tribune, Leon Usigbe, by suspected armed robbers at the Phase 4, Federal Secretariat junction, Three Arms Zone, of the Federal Capital Territory. The robbers were said to have stabbed him multiple times and at different parts of his body last March. The incident was said to have happened in the night.
A colleague of his, Lawrence Bajah, said Usigbe’s car had developed a fault around the area and he had alighted to place reflective triangles behind when he was attacked. Bajah said the robbers took away his phones and other belongings. He said, “The robbers, three in number, attacked and stabbed him in several parts of his body, leaving him with deep gashes on his right hand and backside. He had just left a meeting between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party House of Representatives Caucus hosted by the House Minority Leader, Ndudi Elemelu, at his Lobito Crescent, Wuse residence when the incident happened. The robbers swooped on him as he alighted from his car to mount a reflective triangle behind just as the engine suddenly went off at the traffic stop and had problems restarting.
“They grabbed him by his neck from behind and indiscriminately unleashed sharp objects on his body, almost severing his right thumb. The robbers succeeded in dispossessing him of his two mobile phones including an iPhone 13 pro and Samsung Galaxy A32 series before disappearing into the wasteland opposite the Phase 4 Federal Secretariat. Drenched in his own blood, he managed to walk to the nearby police post at the Federal Secretariat where some policewomen on duty conveyed him to the State House Medical Centre for treatment. His wounds were stitched up before being discharged on Wednesday morning.”
Though the FCTA is yet to clear bushes within the city, those in Kuje are currently being cleared. FCTA said this is due to reports of insecurity, sales of illicit drugs. Findings also revealed that the government took the decision to clear the Kuje forest due to recent security threats that has kept residents worried. Head, Monitoring and Enforcement, Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), Kaka Bello, said: “Well we have some security challenges in this area, there were cases of sale and consumption of illicit drugs in this area. And we have some cases of reported theft, snatching of bags and phones. It also has some security challenges but with the coming of the market we hope all these security challenges will subside.”
The most recent incident was the arrests of three suspected kidnappers near a bush by the police while trying to kidnap one middle aged lady along Lokogoma axis, in the capital city.
Before the arrival of the police, the mob descended on the trio – Francis Emeka Noah, Wua Ikyer and Bokos Terkula, all male, alleged to have attempted to lure and defraud a female Point-of-Sale (POS) operator around Peace Court Estate, along Lokogoma Road, Abuja.
The FCT Police spokesperson, DSP Josephine Adeh, who spoke to our correspondent when she reacted to the development, said: “The suspects were promptly rescued by the police and currently in police custody. The Commissioner of Police (CP), Babaji Sunday, while condemning the act, enjoined residents to come forward with their complaints to give room for legitimate and swift dispensation of justice. He emphasized the importance of allowing the course of justice irrespective of the crime committed by a suspect.
“Meanwhile, a full-scale investigation is being carried out to establish the facts of the case. The CP further warned that the act of jungle justice is criminal and punishable by law. He reiterated the commitment of the command to the safety and security of residents across the FCT.”
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the minister of FCT, Ikharo Attah, said the demolition of Pasali forest near Kuje Local Education Authority Secretariat was to clear the area of illegalities and restore the approved plan. “We have reclaimed the vegetable table market and others which have been taken over by other people.”
Attah also vowed that the city center will also be touched, adding that no bush or forest will be spared. He assured that the government will not allow any criminal hideout in and around the FCT.