29 persons, including male adults, women, and children, have been kidnapped in Yewuti village, the hometown of Alhaji Zubairu Jibrin Yewuti, the recently-retired vice chairman of the Kwali Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, Nigeria.
Two women, Zainab Umar and Aisha Zubairu, allegedly managed to flee from their captors while being led into a forest.
Among those kidnapped were Idris Mohammed, Abdullahi Zubairu, Sani S. Magani, Peter Modu, Ibrahim Mamman, Yellow Abdulrasheed, Musa Suleiman, Simbiya Ishaku, Sumaiya Ibrahim, Muktari Yunusa and Mohammed Yeluwa and Rahmat Shagari.
Other victims included Sumaiya Abubakar Yelwa, Mohammed Yelwa, Maimuna Muhammad, Hussaini Ya Nda Agyana, Hamza Ibrahim, Lantana Yunusa, Nabila Agyana, Rufai Salihu, Nafisa Aminu, Kasimu Adamu, Abako Adamu, Abdulyakin Aliyu, Lukman Aliyu, Rahina Audu, Abdulrazak Usman, Sadiya Usman, Darius Samuel and Japheth Osu.
Shuaibu Ndako, a resident of Yewuti who managed to escape through the roof, verified the story to reporters on Tuesday. He said the kidnappers broke into the neighborhood at around 1 am local time in their considerable numbers.
He claimed that during sporadic gunfire, the kidnappers, who had divided into groups, entered eight homes and abducted the occupants, including children and housewives, before escaping into the nearby bush.
“It is God that saved me. When I first heard banging on my door, I quietly peeped through the window and saw that they were kidnappers. So I climbed into the ceiling and hid there,” he said.
He claimed that after pushing the door open, two women and two children were taken hostage in his home before the kidnappers moved on to the next residence.
Alhaji Zubairu Jibrin Yewuti, the immediate vice chairman of the council, who met with our reporter in the hamlet, claimed that his younger brother Idris, two of his elder brothers’ wives, and a child were abducted in his family’s home.
He claimed that between 1 am and 3 am, the kidnappers broke into eight different homes and kidnapped 29 people, including women, men, and children.
According to him, while being led into the jungle with other victims, two housewives managed to escape from their kidnappers.
Alhaji Isyaku Yakubu Yewuti, the Etsu Abawa of Yewuti, also acknowledged that 29 of his subjects had been kidnapped.
He alleged that two victims of gunshot wounds were transported to a private hospital in Kwali.
The monarch requested assistance from the appropriate security personnel in rescuing the kidnapped people, claiming that the abductors’ random gunshots had horrified the entire village.