At least two persons have been reportedly abducted by gunmen in an estate in the Kurudu area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The gunmen were said to have invaded the phase 2 area of the Nigerian Army Post-Service Housing estate around 10 pm on Thursday.
Serving and retired soldiers, as well as civilians, reside in the estate.
A resident of the estate said gunshots rang for several hours.
The Director of Army Public Relations Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu confirmed that the incident happened in the estate at about 9.00 p.m. on Thursday.
According to residents of the estate, gunmen fired gunshots before escaping with their victims.
However, Brigadier General Nwachukwu told Channels Television that troops have responded to a distress call from the estate and are currently on a search and rescue operation.
Kurudu is one of the communities on the border between the FCT and Nasarawa State and is located in the Abuja Municipal Area Council.
The development is the latest in the spate of kidnappings and other security challenges that have continued to rock the nation’s seat of power in recent times. The FCT Minister Nyesom Wike had met with security agencies and other stakeholders in the area to forestall the trend.
In the meeting, Wike told security agencies to redouble their efforts. The Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun had also set up the Special Intervention Squad to fight the rising crime rate in Abuja.
At the event in Abuja, the police chief said the team comprised specially trained mobile police officers. According to him, it will give rapid response to the security breaches in the FCT.
While noting that the squad will engage in massive community policing, Egbetokun assured Nigerians that the newly launched Special Intervention Squad will be replicated in neighboring states to address the challenge of insecurity.
