In the early hours of Wednesday, June 12, gunmen attacked and killed residents of Guida, a community in Abuja.

Residents who spoke with aso.rocks investigates said the gunmen, who attacked the community around 2:00 am on Wednesday, killed no fewer than four residents and also kidnapped an elderly married man from his home.

“They killed a security guard manning a resident’s house in the community. Although I do not know the identity of the person who was kidnapped, I learned that they actually came for the guy,” a resident who does not want to be named told aso.rocks investigates.

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Another resident revealed that, unlike previous security issues that had to do with fights between boys and cultists, this gunmen attack was the first of its kind in Guida.

“It started around 2.00 am, but I got notice of it around 3.00 am when stones were being thrown on the top of my roof. That was what woke me up. When I was up, I called our security man, a member of the vigilante group. But somebody else picked up his call and said that the security man was dead. He was the guy they shot first,” he disclosed.

aso.rocks investigates learned that the security man had received a distress call for help about the attack. Upon responding, he was shot by the gunmen, who fired gunshots continuously until around 4:00 am.

“On that day, four people were killed. One other person who was injured was taken to the hospital, but I don’t know if that person has died now. But I know four people died on that day, and an elderly man, who is married with children, was kidnapped. Till morning, no police presence, and even till now. This area is still prone to attacks,” said one of the residents.

According to aso.rocks investigates’s sources, the abduction of the elderly male resident appeared to be the gunmen’s target. The gunmen, as gathered by our reporter, severely beat the man before abducting him.

“He was shouting and buying time to enable people to come and rescue him. I learned that the guy struggled and struggled for about an hour before the gunmen took him away. Also, before they took him away, he was beaten to stupor. The information we got was that he was actually the one the gunmen came for. I don’t know if the gunmen have contacted the family,” said a source.

READ ALSO: In Abuja Community, Bandits Burn Tractors, Abduct 22 Farmers

One of aso.rocks investigates’s sources revealed that the attack has left people restless and scared. As residents retire for the night, aso.rocks investigates learned, they keep wondering if another attack will happen.

“Personally, if I had enough finances, I would have left and forgotten about my rent just to go and rent somewhere safer. That’s just the truth; it’s scary. [When it happened], the children, everybody did not sleep. Everybody was hearing the gunshots, shouting. If we had real security, like police officers with their AK47, it would have been a different story,” the source said.

Text messages sent to Josephine Adeh, the FCT police public relations officer, have not been responded to.

Abimbola Abatta is a reporter with aso.rocks investigates, writing reports in partnership with Report for the World which matches local newsrooms with talented emerging journalists to report on under-covered issues around the globe.
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