Gunmen have killed seven policemen and two residents in Abuja and carted away some weapons, Daily Trust learnt from witnesses and police sources yesterday.
The incident took place around 9pm Monday at the Galadimawa roundabout, less than five minutes’ drive from Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Road (also known as Airport Road).
It came less than 24 hours after two other policemen were killed by gunmen at a checkpoint near Manderegi village in Abaji, on the Abuja-Lokoja road around Sunday and one of their guns taken away.
Residents said two people were killed while several others were injured by the armed men who opened fire after they were stopped by the police for a search.
Police sources however said the slain personnel were ambushed by the gunmen at the roundabout, which is close to a police outpost.
Daily Trust learnt that the gunmen took way some guns before fleeing in a waiting vehicle.
The spokesman of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Acting DCP Jimoh Moshood, while responding to questions from journalists at the Force Headquarters yesterday in Abuja, said the police were determined to arrest the attackers.
Moshood, who condemned the attack on policemen, said the incident highlighted the need to support a reinvigorated Special Anti-Robbery Unit (SARS) of the Force.
“The killing of the policemen goes a long way to prove that the call for the disbandment of the SARS is not justified,” he said.
The FCT Commissioner of Police Sadiq Bello, while assuring residents of adequate security, commiserated with families of fallen police officers.
In a statement by the FCT police spokesman, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, the commissioner said the police had deployed proactive security measures to protect lives and property in the FCT.
Bello visited Galadimawa roundabout for an on-the-spot assessment of the incident”.
“While commiserating with families of the deceased policemen who paid the supreme price while serving their fatherland, the CP wishes to assure law-abiding FCT residents and the general public that the command has set machineries in motion to arrest the fleeing assailants and bring them to justice,” Bello said.
He said already the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department of the FCT police command had “commenced discreet investigation to unmask the identities of the criminal elements behind the dastardly act.”
Residents of Galadimawa say lack of security in the area had led to rising cases of armed robbery, adding that the absence of streetlights around the Galadimawa roundabout and other spots within the FCT make policemen vulnerable to attacks.
They also lamented that satellite town and other villages within the FCT had become hideouts and safe-havens for criminals.
One of the residents, Mohammed Sani, said “What happened is really scary. If the police are not safe, what about ordinary citizens who look up to the police for protection?”
“The FCT authorities need to overhaul the security system in the capital city. People are prone to attacks because so many spots are dark, giving criminals the room to operate.”
He also called on the authorities to reactivate its closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to help the security agents in carrying out the job.
Daily Trust reports that the attack on the policemen at Galadimawa roundabout is the most devastating since the killing of three policemen at Idu Industrial Estate, Karmo Abuja, in December 2016.
