Bandits Kill Father, Abduct Wife, Children In Abuja

A resident of Ushafa Community in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was shot dead during a bandit invasion on Thursday night.

The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, was killed in his own home, where the attackers also abducted his wife and children.

The incident has left the community in shock and fear, as it adds to the growing list of violent attacks in the area. Ushafa has been one of several communities in Nigeria plagued by widespread insecurity, with banditry and kidnappings becoming alarmingly frequent.

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A police source confirmed the attack but provided few details about the incident.

The Police Public Relations Officer in FCT, SP Josephine Adeh, was unavailable for comment, as attempts to reach her by phone were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.

This latest attack underscores the ongoing security challenges in Nigeria, particularly in the FCT.

The development comes on the heels of a report by SBM Intelligence, an Africa-focused market and security intelligence firm, which revealed that Nigerians paid a staggering N1.048 billion in ransom to kidnappers between July 2023 and June 2024.

The report, titled ‘Grim Reaping,’ highlighted that the FCT had the highest ransom demands in the country, with Lagos and Kaduna following closely behind.

It painted a bleak picture of the security situation in Nigeria, where kidnapping for ransom has become a lucrative criminal enterprise.

The report also pointed to economic stagnation as a contributing factor to the rise in kidnappings, noting that criminals are increasingly targeting a broader range of people, starting with high ransom demands that are often negotiated down to amounts that families or social organizations can afford.

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