Seven Kidnap Victims Rescued As Security Forces Raid Hideouts Near Abuja

Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting

THE Federal Capital Territory Police Command has rescued seven abducted residents following a coordinated security operation that stretched from Ushafa on the outskirts of Abuja into neighbouring Kaduna State.

The Command said it received a distress report on 5th December 2025 that armed men had stormed a community in Ushafa and abducted several people.

 In a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja, Police spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, confirmed that a joint team of operatives from the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, the Nigerian Army, and the Department of State Services (DSS) was immediately deployed.

Acting on actionable intelligence, the team pursued the suspects through the Mpape axis and into settlements bordering Kagarko Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The kidnappers reportedly opened fire upon sighting the advancing security team, triggering a fierce gun duel.

Officers returned fire and successfully overpowered the attackers, rescuing one victim from their custody.

For more than seven hours, the joint team continued the chase across challenging mountainous terrain, eventually raiding another hideout in the Kweri Forest, Kaduna State.

This led to a second exchange of gunfire, forcing the criminals to abandon six other hostages as they fled.

All seven rescued victims were taken to hospital, where police say they are receiving treatment and are in stable condition.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Miller G. Dantawaye, applauded the professionalism and courage demonstrated during the operation and ordered the deployment of more personnel along identified vulnerable corridors to deter further incursions by kidnapping gangs into the capital.

As the manhunt for the fleeing suspects continues, the Command has urged medical facilities to immediately report any individuals presenting with suspicious gunshot injuries via the emergency lines: 08061581938 or 08032003913.