By Abdullahi Yunusa
Kidnappings, which had been confined to the oil-rich Niger Delta and recently, the South-Eastern part of the country, where gunmen hold sway, it would seem, have shifted to Abuja, the nation’s capital, especially with the alarming cases being recorded within the territory, in recent times.
Just two weeks ago, a chief campaigner of the yet-to-declare President Goodluck Jonathan for 2011 presidential campaign group, Dr Jhalil Tafawa Balewa, was abducted from his office in Utako District by unknown gunmen and taken to an unidentified destination.
Dr Tafawa Balewa, who regained freedom almost 48 hours after his abduction, courtesy of combined efforts of a search party and surveillance team mounted by the FCT Police Command, said he was in his office on that fateful day when some men walked in and demanded that he followed them.
He told newsmen after he was rescued, that efforts to findout why they wanted him to go with them failed as they quickly blind-folded and whisked him away in his own car, which was also recovered by the police.
Giving more insight into his ordeals in the hands of his captors, he said: “From the moment I was kidnapped from my office, the young men subjected me to all forms of inhuman treatment. Imagine one of them spanking me on the head for failing to disclose the entire amount I have in my bank account. It was a pathetic story, but thank God I am off the hook.”
Balewa said he was kidnapped from his office and taken to a hilly countryside, where he was left in the rain. He later escaped by himself and was walking to freedom when he encountered policemen, swarming the entire place not knowing that they were searching for him.
Commenting on his release, FCT Police Commissioner, John Haruna, said a gang of five men, engaged in a gun duel with the police, but were eventually overpowered.
“One of them was killed, while another was wounded and is currently receiving treatment even as two suspects escaped,” he said, contradicting an earlier statement by a spokesman that three were caught.
Haruna, said the kidnappers were traced to Mpape, an Abuja suburb, where they had held the victim.
On steps taken by the police towards his rescue, he said “a drill, as well as a stop and search operation, was put in place at all major highways and escape routes, which were likely to be used. “We searched virtually all abandoned buildings within and around. Certainly, these kidnappers were not acting solo. It was a well planned and well executed operation."
One of the arrested kidnap suspects, Adamu Adamu, a student of College of Education, Minna, claimed that he was lured into the act by the gang leader, Fatai Angel, who promised him huge sums at the end of the operation.
Also, last month, another gang of kidnappers abducted one Mr. Akor Abbah, a nephew to Kogi state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Joe Abrahams, who is a staff of the Ministry of Interior, from his house in Abuja.
The kidnappers, who held him captive for nine days, made an initial demand of N100 million as ransom, which was later reduced to N30 million.
Addressing newsmen after he was rescued by men of the State Security Service (SSS), and members of his family, he said his hands and legs were tied for 7 and was served food once in a day.
In a similar development, an Assistant Director with the Federal Ministry of National Planning, Chief Oluwole Adelana, was sometimes this year, abducted by gunmen at Area 1, in Garki, and driven away to an unknown destination in his Toyota Camry car.
The incident, as was gathered, was immediately, reported to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, in Abuja, which immediately swung into action and alerting their offices in the neighbouring states.
It was further gathered that the car in which Adelana was abducted, was later discovered on the Yobe-Maiduguri road, after been set ablaze.
Again, in February this year, it was also reported that some armed bandits invaded the University of Abuja, in Gwagwalada, where they abducted the daughter of a member of the House of Representatives, representing Opobo, Nkoro and Andoni Federal Constituency of Rivers state, Hon. Christopher Benewari.
His daughter, whose name was simply given as Theresa, was allegedly taken away by gunmen in the wee hours of the morning to an unknown location and the abductors demanded for payment of N100 million as ransom.
Another shocking kidnap case recorded in Abuja recently, was that which involved the Executive Director (Operations), of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), John Ayodele.
Barely two months after he was appointed as the Executive Director of PHCN, May, 2010, to be precise, unknown gunmen trailed him to his office as if prompted by the appointment and abducted him.
Initially, the kidnappers were said to have demanded for N30 million ransom from Ayodele's family, it was later reduced to N5 million.
The above mentioned cases are only a few out of many case that have been recorded in Abuja in recent times, as other cases have been reported.
This alarming trend has left many residents in doubt as regards safety in the territory.
It has as well put to question, the preparedness of security agencies towards protection of lives and property in the FCT, so much more that if not completely nipped in the bud, residents would continue to live in perpetual fear.
While parading some suspects in July, the police and operatives of the SSS, revealed that a total of 21 suspected kidnappers and 25 cultists were arrested same month in Abuja.
The SSS Director, FCT Command, Mr. Mike Fubara, confirmed that the suspects were arrested for offences bordering on kidnapping and cultism.
According to Fubara, investigations showed that most of the kidnap cases in the territory were perpetrated by non residents.
Fubara revealed that the kidnappers, usually lodged in small hotels within suburbs of Abuja, posing as construction workers, which enable them to check in and out of the hotels at will without management of such hotels suspecting their activities.
Assuring that the Service, in conjunction with other security agencies, would do everything possible to rid the FCT of such hoodlums, Fubara appealed to members of the public to always alert security operatives on the activities of persons they suspect.
While admitting that kidnap cases are growing at a rather alarming rates, the spokesman of the FCT Police Command, Mr. Moshood Jimoh, restated.
“Though we have had cases of kidnapping activities in Abuja, but that does not mean that we have been overpowered by these elements. We have achieved tremendous success especially in the area of rescuing victims without the payment of ransom,” he told Peoples Daily.
Jimoh, who called on residents to be vigilant and take the issue of security very seriously, also cautioned them against staying out late and entertaining strange people into their apartments.
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