The Nigeria Police have confirmed that at least ten people were abducted in Tungan Maje, a suburb of Abuja early Thursday.
Newsmen broke the story after receiving a distress call from a resident.
The attack by gunmen lasted hours in the community that lies near Zuba and Niger State.
One resident said at least 20 people were kidnapped after prolonged shooting in the town. At least two children were amongst the victims.
A source in the town told Newsmen that intense shooting started in the community at about 12.15 a.m. and lasted more than an hour.
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He said members of the local vigilante group and police were overwhelmed.
“We didn’t sleep throughout the night. It’s this morning that the vigilantes told us about 20 people were abducted,” he said. He said so far the families of two children who were taken away had been identified.
In a statement Thursday afternoon, the police spokesperson for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Anjuguri Manzah, a deputy superintendent, said police had “rescued” five out of ten abducted residents.
“The FCT Police Command wishes to assure the public that protection of lives and property remains the core of its policing mandate and it will continue to inject fresh strategies that will place the security of the FCT at its optimum,” the statement said.
“The Command wishes to inform the public that when it received a distress call on Kidnap of some persons on 10 September 2020 at about 0130hrs in Tungan Maje, a village bordering FCT and Niger state, a joint team of Police operatives from the Command Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Rapid Response Squad and Zuba Police Division responded swiftly to the occasion.
“During a fierce gun confrontation with the heavily armed hoodlums, the Police team successfully rescued five of the kidnapped victims.
“Meanwhile, a concerted effort has been deployed to rescue the remaining five victims that are still with the hoodlums who escaped into Niger state through a nearby forest that is surrounded by rocky terrain.
“The Command reassures members of the Public with its commitment to deploy proactive crime-fighting measures to ensure the security of lives and property in FCT.”
The attack is coming days after reports suggested that members of the extremist group, Boko Haram, had infiltrated the federal capital.