The Federal Capital Territory Police Command has confirmed the rescue of a kidnap victim following a 30-minute gun duel with a gang of kidnappers in the Guzape area of Abuja.

The operation was part of a broader anti-kidnapping raid conducted between September 15 and September 18.

At a press briefing on Friday, FCT Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, described the rescue operation as “a life-threatening battle that involved 30 minutes of heavy gunfire between police operatives and the hoodlums.”
He disclosed that two members of a local vigilante group were injured during an earlier attack on September 15, with one later dying at the National Hospital, Abuja.

Adewale explained that the gang had also attempted to abduct two young women, but a coordinated response led to their safe rescue. The operation involved the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, the Rapid Response Squad Commander, and other officers, working in collaboration with the Nigerian Army, DSS operatives, Hunters, and local vigilantes.

The police traced the gang to a hideout in Zinda Forest, behind the Nigerian Army Estate in Kurudu, near the Nasarawa State border, around 7:00 a.m. on September 18. “The gang engaged our operatives in a fierce gun battle, but our team overpowered them and three of the notorious criminals were neutralised,” Adewale said.

Investigations revealed that the neutralised gang leader had been involved in multiple kidnappings across Karu, Guzape, Kpobi, Army Estate, Kurudu, and locations in Nasarawa State.

The command also foiled the gang’s attempt to abduct a resident of Federal Housing Estate, Karu, on September 18.

Items recovered from the gang included two AK-49 rifles, two magazines with seven rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, two Itel handsets, two ATM cards, lighters, assorted charms, animal horns, and N10,000 in cash.

In a separate development, CP Adewale reported progress in anti-drug operations across the FCT. “Our Anti-Narcotics Unit arrested 11 notorious drug dealers in coordinated raids and recovered 68 bags of substances suspected to be cannabis and other illicit drugs,” he said. The arrests, he noted, aim to disrupt criminal supply chains and curb drug-fueled crimes in the territory.

The FCT Police Command said proactive patrols and anti-kidnapping operations would continue across identified hotspots and border communities.