Exactly one week after a police officer was shot dead in the Guto area of Bwari, bandits have launched yet another violent attack on the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), abducting six young girls and a 16-year-old boy during a night raid on Gidan-Bijimi, a settlement in Kawu ward on the fringes of Bwari Area Council.
Kawu shares a boundary with Kaduna State, and lies close to the Gidan-Dogo and Kweti forests – areas long regarded as transit routes and hideouts for criminal gangs operating along the FCT–Kaduna corridor.
Gidan-Bijimi itself sits near Marke village on the same boundary, a zone that has witnessed renewed criminal activity in recent months.
The latest assault occurred around 9:47 pm on Wednesday, throwing the quiet community into chaos as the gunmen, armed with AK-47 rifles, invaded two homes and fired repeatedly into the air before escaping with their captives.
The incident comes on the heels of last Wednesday’s attack on Guto, another boundary community in Bwari, where the FCT Police Command reported that about 30 armed men stormed the area to kidnap a resident and his family. Two terrorists were reportedly neutralised in the Guto incident, while a policeman lost his life.
In the latest attacks, a resident of Kawu, Suleiman Shu’aibu, who confirmed the Gidan-Bijimi abductions, said the girls taken were between 17 and 23 years old.
He said he got a call around 9:53 pm from Gidan-Bijimi that bandits had invaded the village. “They abducted six young girls. Unfortunately, my cousin’s sister is among the victims,” he explained, adding that a teenage boy was also seized.
Shu’aibu said members of the local vigilance group attempted to confront the attackers but were forced to retreat due to the bandits’ superior firepower.
He added that several residents fled into surrounding bushes, while others remained indoors until daylight. As of Thursday morning, there had been no contact from the kidnappers, and the police had yet to officially confirm the incident.
The attacks have triggered renewed calls for strengthened security across communities bordering Kaduna and Niger states – long considered soft entry points for armed groups creeping toward the capital
In response to rising anxieties, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Wednesday announced fresh security measures following an expanded meeting of the FCT Security Council chaired by the Minister, Nyesom Wike.
FCT Commissioner of Police, Miller Ɗantawaye, who briefed journalists after the meeting, said the council had fully activated “Operation Sweep’, a multi-agency security operation recently reorganised to respond more effectively to emerging threats.
According to him, the operation has been restructured into four major sectors covering Gwagwalada, Bwari, and two wide corridors across the city centre—stretching from Berger and Wuse through Karu, Mararaba, Karshi, and Orozo.
He added that the minister has provided “adequate logistics” to enable the joint deployment of personnel from the police, military, DSS, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, FRSC, Immigration Service, Correctional Service and other FCT-based agencies.
