(Police Emblem. Photo by Nation News)
Following a gunfight with suspected kidnappers in the Jikoko Hills, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command has freed four residents who had been kidnapped during an incident in the Yellow House neighborhood of Mpape, Abuja.
However, the Command acknowledged that one citizen was murdered during the assault, and another is receiving medical attention in a hospital after being shot.
This was revealed in a statement released in Abuja on Friday by SP Josephine Adeh, the FCT Police Public Relations Officer.
The statement claims that the incident happened on Wednesday at around 10:40 p.m. when the command received a distress call informing them that four inhabitants of Mpape’s Yellow House neighborhood had been kidnapped by armed kidnappers.
After receiving the report, Ahmed Sanusi, the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, promptly sent officers from the 24 Police Mobile Force Squadron, members of the Katampe and Mpape Divisions, and members of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit to rescue the victims.
According to Adeh, the terrorists shot two locals before escaping with four hostages through the Jikoko Hills and into the Ushafa Forest, according to preliminary findings.
When they arrived, initial investigations showed that the attackers had shot two victims before running away.
Additionally, it was found that the attackers had kidnapped four more victims from a nearby neighborhood and marched them violently through the Jikoko Hills in the direction of Ushafa Forest, she claimed.
She continued by saying that the injured victims were taken to a hospital, where one of them identified only as Mr. Babangida was pronounced dead and the other, who had been shot in the leg, was responding well to treatment.
From the night of the attack until the early hours of Friday, when they apprehended the suspects near Jikoko Hills, police officers continued to pursue the abductors, according to the police spokesperson.
“From the night of the incident until Friday, July 10, 2026, when they located the kidnappers at approximately 12:05 a.m. around Jikoko Hills heading towards Ushafa Forest with the hostages,” she stated.
She claims that when the kidnappers saw the approaching police team, they started shooting, which led to a heated gunfight.
“The suspects were forced to abandon the hostages and flee deeper into the surrounding hills and forest in a desperate attempt to evade arrest due to the operatives’ superior tactical capability,” Adeh said.
She attested to the fact that all four of the kidnapped victims were saved uninjured, taken out of the wilderness, and reunited with their family.
Security personnel were still searching for the escaping individuals, the statement continued.
Residents were reassured by the Commissioner of Police that the command was still dedicated to finding and prosecuting the perpetrators of the attack.
“He further urges members of the public to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious persons or activities to the nearest Police Station or through the FCT Police Command emergency lines,” the statement added.