Nigeria Police Force, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, has come out to say its operatives have arrested nineteen suspected cultists after engaging the cultists in a fierce gun duel.

The Incident took place in Bakkassi Yimitu village in Apo-Waru axis of the nation’s capital, Abuja.

The suspected cultists were said to have attacked a Police Outstation in the area to release their members from Police custody.

In a statement issued to newsmen on Friday in Abuja by the Command’s Spokesperson, SP Josephine Adeh, the FCT Commissioner of Police, Ajao Adewale, was quoted as saying: “In response to repeated complaints from residents of Bakassi Yimitu Village in the Apo-Waru axis of the FCT over suspected cult activities, a Joint Task Force led by the Police, comprising local vigilantes and hunters, conducted a crime prevention patrol in the area on Wednesday, 24th July 2025.

“During the operation, the team encountered a gathering suspected to be that of the reported cultists who have been terrorising the area.

“Upon sighting security personnel, they opened fire. A gun duel ensued, leading to the arrest and detention of nineteen (19) suspects at Waru Police Outstation, while others escaped with various degrees of bodily injuries. Sadly, one Police officer and a local vigilante sustained serious injuries and were rushed to the hospital for medical attention.

“Shortly after, the escaped assailants regrouped, mobilised, and launched an attack on the Waru Police Outstation in an attempt to free their detained accomplices, vandalizing parts of the facility, three (3) patrol Hilux vehicles, and damaging six (6) privately owned cars within the premises.

“The miscreants were repelled. Reinforcements were swiftly deployed to the scene, and normalcy has since been restored.”

CP Adewale further stated emphatically that the Command will not rest until other members of the syndicate at large are arrested and brought to book.

The CP strongly condemned the attacks, warning that any assault on police personnel or formations will attract the full wrath of the law. (Nigerian Tribune)