Following a gunfight with robbers, police officers have freed five kidnapped inhabitants of the Paze hamlet in the Federal Capital Territory's (FCT) Bwari district council.

Ahmed Mohammed Sanusi, the FCT's commissioner of police, told reporters on Wednesday that two suspected gang members were murdered and two others were taken into custody during the operation.

Last Thursday, armed men broke into the Paze village in the Byazhin area and abducted the victims.

The attackers killed Shuaibu Yerima, a local vigilante, and kidnapped five residents, including a priest.

Sanusi added that after obtaining information about the kidnappers' whereabouts, the police initiated a concerted rescue effort on Tuesday night.

He said that local hunters and vigilante groups collaborated with members of the Nigeria Police Force Intelligence Response Team (IRT), the Kubwa area command, and the anti-kidnapping section to carry out the operation.

At around 9 p.m. on Tuesday, the police commissioner claimed to have personally led the combined security team in a thorough search and rescue operation throughout Paze and the nearby Byazhin towns.

Two gang members were killed in a violent gunfight between security personnel and the suspects, he claimed, while two others, identified as Icheh Mohammadu and Abubakar Usman, were taken into custody.

During the altercation, Sanusi said, a number of other suspects fled into the surrounding shrubs and hills.

“And during the operation, the police team also recovered two AK-47 rifles with magazines, while two of the gang members were arrested during the crossfire,” Sanusi said.

According to the commissioner, all five of the abducted victims were saved unharmed and are currently being examined and treated at a hospital before being reunited with their family.

Source