Police Rescue Kidnap Victim After Gun Duel in Guzape, AbujaAbuja, September 19, 2025 — The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has rescued a kidnapping victim following a 30-minute gun duel with kidnappers in Guzape, Abuja.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ajao Adewale, disclosed at a news conference that the operation was part of a broader raid carried out between September 15 and 18. According to CP Adewale, the confrontation was intense. Two vigilante members were wounded during an earlier attack on September 15; one of them later succumbed to injuries at the National Hospital, Abuja.
On September 17, at about 10:32 p.m., a staff of the FCTA’s Department of Urban Affairs, Nafiu Idris, was abducted in Karu. The police, working with the Army’s Guards Brigade, the DSS, Hunters, and local vigilantes, managed to locate the bandits’ hideout in Zinda Forest, behind the Nigerian Army Estate in Kurudu — near the Nasarawa State border. During the raid, the gang put up stiff resistance, but police operatives overpowered them.
Three of the kidnappers, including the gang leader, were neutralised. Recovered from the criminals were two AK-49 rifles, two magazines of 7.62mm live ammunition, two Itel mobile phones, various ATM cards, charms, animal horns, and ₦10,000 in cash. The FCT Command confirmed that the freed victim was unharmed. It was further revealed that the neutralised gang leader, known as “Duna,” had been linked to multiple kidnappings across Karu, Guzape, Kpobi, Army Estate, Kurudu, and several Nasarawa State locations. CP Adewale added that the police have intensified anti-kidnapping and anti-banditry patrols in border communities and other identified hotspots.