Barely a week after a police officer was killed in Guto, the Bwari Area Council has suffered yet another violent attack, as bandits on Wednesday night abducted six young girls and a 16-year-old boy from Gidan-Bijimi, a settlement in Kawu ward.
The attackers struck around 9:47 pm, storming two homes while firing repeatedly into the air before fleeing with their victims. Armed with AK-47 rifles, they overpowered residents and escaped into the surrounding forests.
Kawu, which shares a border with Kaduna State, lies close to the Gidan Dogo and Kweti forests—areas long identified as transit routes and hideouts for criminal groups operating along the FCT–Kaduna axis. Gidan-Bijimi also sits near Marke village, a location that has recorded increasing criminal activity in recent months.
The latest abduction follows a separate incident in Guto, another boundary community in Bwari, where gunmen attempted to kidnap a family days earlier. The FCT Police Command reported that about 30 attackers were involved and in that raid, during which two assailants were killed and a police officer lost his life.
A resident of Kawu, Suleiman Shuaibu, confirmed the identities of the victims, saying the six abducted girls are between 17 and 23 years old, while the teenage boy is 16.
“I got a call around 9:53 pm that bandits had invaded the village. They abducted six young girls. Unfortunately, my cousin sister is among the victims,” he said.
Shuaibu added that members of the local vigilance group tried to confront the attackers but retreated due to their superior firepower. Many residents fled into nearby bushes, while others hid in their homes until morning. As of Thursday, the kidnappers had not made contact, and police had yet to formally confirm the incident.
The abduction has heightened fears across the Bwari Area Council, whose communities straddle the borders of Kaduna and Niger states and have suffered repeated incursions.
Amid growing concerns, the Federal Capital Territory Administration on Wednesday announced new security measures following an expanded meeting of the FCT Security Council chaired by Minister Nyesom Wike.
FCT Commissioner of Police, Miller Dantawaye, said the administration has fully activated Operation Sweep, a reorganised multi-agency security initiative designed to tackle emerging threats across the territory. He said the operation now covers four major sectors, including Gwagwalada, Bwari, and two major corridors stretching from Berger and Wuse through Karu, Mararaba, Karshi, and Orozo.
According to Dantawaye, the minister has provided “adequate logistics” for the joint deployment of personnel from the police, military, DSS, NSCDC, FRSC, Immigration Service, Correctional Service, and other agencies.
Despite these measures, Wednesday night’s attack highlights the persistent vulnerability of remote communities and the growing boldness of criminal groups edging closer to the nation’s capital.
Residents say they live in constant fear and are calling for urgent action to rescue the victims and halt what many describe as an escalating wave of terror.
