ABUJA, NIGERIA (TIP): The violent abduction of five young Nigerian sisters near Abuja has sparked a national outcry and raised fears about insecurity in the country’s capital.
The sisters were seized at the start of the year by armed men who burst into their home just 15 miles (25 kilometres) from Abuja city centre, a family member told AFP.
She said the attackers killed one of the sisters, 21-year-old Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, when a ransom deadline passed. Negotiations were ongoing for the release of the others.
Kidnapping for ransom has been a major problem in Nigeria with criminal gangs targeting highways, apartments and even snatching pupils from schools.
After public outrage over the sisters’ case this week, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu condemned what he called the “recent spate of kidnappings and bandit attacks”.
First Lady Remi Tinubu also voiced concern, while politicians and the media questioned the government’s strategy after gangs targeted parts of the heavily-guarded Federal Capital Territory, which is as big as some states but run by a minister rather than a governor.
One tabloid declared at the weekend that Abuja was “under siege”.
‘Lie low, buy time’
The Nigerian risk consultancy SBM Intelligence told AFP it had documented 283 people abducted in the Federal Capital Territory alone over the past year.
Some experts believe the country’s economic crisis is driving a rise in kidnappings as desperate Nigerians turn to crime for income. SBM analyst Confidence MacHarry said insecurity around the capital has been growing for years.
“It’s been getting worse for some time,” he said, citing a 2022 attack on a prison on the outskirts of Abuja as a landmark moment. Gunmen bombed their way into Kuje jail and freed hundreds of inmates in the raid claimed by Islamic State-allied jihadists.
The minister for the Federal Capital Territory has urged residents not to panic and promised to find a solution. MacHarry said the government needed a consistent approach and warned periodic crackdowns on criminals in Abuja’s satellite towns were not working.
“All the bandits have to do is lie low and buy themselves time,” he said. (AFP)