From Fred Itua, Abuja
The festering insecurity in Abuja, FCT has taken a grim dimension with reports of deadly cult gang activity in Kuchibena, just few kilometres from the Life Camp official residence of the FCT minister.
Terrified residents have reported that in the past two months several victims have died, with about four people murdered this week in a most gruesome manner by people suspected to be cult gang members.
The last killing that reportedly shook the village was that of a young man whose body was said to have been dismembered, with his head chopped off and hung on a stick by his attackers.
The notorious slum surrounded by several privately developed estates is reportedly now an operational theatre for hardened criminals who terrorise the neighbourhood.
Residents are afraid to speak out for fear of becoming an easy target to the violent gang members and hoodlums, who are said to be underage.
A community leaders who pleaded anonymity said that the bloody cult clashes have become too frequent and deadly, causing residents to live on a in climate of fear and abandonment.
According to the source, the night hours are the most precarious period, with the violent criminals defying security measures set up by the community and authorities.
While the FCT Police Command Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, has not commented to inquiries regarding the spate of killings in Kuchibena, a letter addressed to Abuja Environmental Protection Board requesting for demolition of the criminal hideouts in the community confirmed the lawless situation there.
The letter dated April 28 and signed by the Galadima Divisional Police Officer, CSP Chinyere Akalaga, complained that the activities of the hoodlums have eroded peace and order in village and the surrounding neighbourhood.
The police specifically requested for ‘dislodgement of illegal structures, settlements imposing security threat within Galadima area.’
The letter reads:
‘Consequent upon intelligence report received from the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Abuja from the Department of State Security Services and 21st April 2021 pointing Sahara Gate Market, Mab-Global Junction, Efab Queen opposite market, Cashew Garden along Kuchibena and the popular Mami market in the same Kuchibena area among other major black spots in Galadima srca in the FCT Command.
‘It has become even more expedient that a drastic action be taken by your agency in order to curb the excesses of hoodlums and miscreants that have over time terrorise the peace in and around the neighbourhood.
‘In view of the above stated facts, it may therefore please your authority in the interest of sanity to consider the following as measures for lasting solution: to include include: Outright removal, demolition of illegal structures within the area under review. Liaise with the police on a joint assignment in a bid to dislodge them from their wide-outs.’