As FCTA’s Operation Sweep Abuja continues to clamp down on criminal hideouts in the city centre, residents of satellite communities say they are now the ones paying the price. The hoodlums, chased out of Wuse and Maitama, have regrouped in towns like Kurudu, Kpeyegyi, Gidan Daya, Gidan Mangoro and Orozo — terrorizing locals and snatching valuables in violent night raids.
In Gidan Mangoro’s Zone D, popularly called Angwan Mada, residents recently faced one of the most terrifying invasions yet. Eyewitnesses described how gangs numbering up to 15 stormed the settlement at midnight, smashing burglary proofs, breaking windows and forcing their way into homes. “They moved from room to room, breaking doors as if we were not human beings inside,” one woman recounted.
Another victim said he barely escaped with his daughter. As machete-wielding robbers tried to break in, he lifted the teenage girl over the backyard fence before climbing out himself. “We hid inside the bush till morning,” he said, showing wounds he sustained while fleeing. Phones, ATM cards, cash and personal belongings were carted away in the raid — the second in just one month.
But Gidan Mangoro isn’t the only community under siege. In Orozo, residents faced an even bolder attack. Mariam, a local, said she counted no fewer than 50 hoodlums who roamed freely from house to house for almost three hours. “They came with so much confidence, carrying weapons. We called the police but by the time they arrived, everything was already over,” she said.
In Gidan Daya, near Loyola Jesuit College, the criminals also struck. Mr. Godwin Arase narrated how heavily armed robbers used sledgehammers to break through iron doors and fired shots in the air to scare residents. “They went house to house, overpowered security guards and stole money, jewelry, and ATM cards. Police only came after they had finished,” he lamented.
The rising attacks have now left communities in fear. Many say they barely sleep at night, listening for footsteps or loud bangs. Residents have called on security agencies to extend Operation Sweep Abuja beyond the city centre. “We are the ones suffering here in Kurudu, Orozo, and Gidan Mangoro. The hoodlums chased from town are now living among us. If patrols are not extended here, we won’t have peace,” one resident pleaded.
