The village head of Dnako in Bwari Area Council, Abuja, HRH Etsu Yuda Garba, has been kidnapped along with two of his grandchildren and five other community members.
A resident, Mr Tanko Baba, confirmed the incident on Tuesday, stating that the kidnappers stormed the community around 12:03 am.
He identified the kidnapped grandchildren as Ephraim and Philemon.
Baba told Daily Trust that the armed kidnappers, carrying AK-47 rifles, first raided four houses, abducting five people before proceeding to the residence of the village head.
Some of the attackers, dressed in military uniforms, broke into the house, seized the traditional ruler, and took away his sleeping grandchildren amid sporadic gunfire.
He added that one of the victims, Nicholas, had just returned from the hospital where his wife had given birth when he encountered the kidnappers.
“Mr Nicholas, who is my cousin, just returned from the hospital where his wife gave birth when he ran into the kidnappers,” Baba said.
The kidnappers escaped with the victims before soldiers arrived at the village, although Baba noted that security forces were still pursuing them.
Witnesses revealed that the attackers operated for nearly 30 minutes before firing gunshots as they fled, possibly to deter any pursuit by security personnel.
A police source in Bwari confirmed the incident but directed inquiries to the command for further details.
However, attempts to reach the spokeswoman of the FCT police command, Superintendent Josephine Adeh, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
Bwari has suffered repeated attacks by bandits in recent times, prompting residents to appeal to FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for urgent intervention.