'Police preparing statement' 20 kidnapped as gunmen raid Abuja community

Gunmen raided Tunga Maji, a suburb of Abuja, early Thursday, abducting an unspecified number of residents.

According to information gathered by Premium Times, a resident revealed at least 20 people were kidnapped after prolonged shooting in the community that lies near Zuba, by the gunmen.

The spokesperson of the FCT police command, Anjugur Manzah, has said a statement is being put together to be released to the public.

He also did not confirm the number of those kidnapped, or whether there were casualties.

A resident of the area whose identity has been masked said heavy shootings started in the community at about 12.15 a.m. and lasted for over an hour, adding that members of the local vigilante group were overwhelmed.

“We didn’t sleep throughout the night. It’s this morning that the vigilantes told us that about 20 people were abducted,” he said.

This attack came days after a leaked report from the Nigeria Customs Service suggested that members of the extremist group, Boko Haram, had regrouped in the FCT and other neighbouring states.