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Gunmen hijacked a car, placed a device inside and forced the occupant to drive the vehicle to a police station in Northern Ireland on Monday, prompting a security alert and the evacuation of about 100 homes.

Some streets in Lurgan, County Armagh, remained shut on Tuesday morning as police investigated the scene.

The hijackers stopped a white Audi in the Kilwilkie estate at about 10.30pm and ordered the occupant, a fast food delivery driver, to drive the vehicle to a police station at Church Road a mile away, where he parked and raised the alarm.

Authorities evacuated dozens of nearby homes and opened Lurgan town hall to accommodate displaced residents. Police carried out a controlled explosion on the suspect device. There was no immediate claim of responsibility but suspicion fell on dissident republicans.

It was an “absolutely terrifying ordeal” for the driver and a “hugely disruptive and a distressing event” for the local community, the assistant chief constable Ryan Henderson told BBC Radio Ulster. It was too early to tell if the device was a viable bomb but officers were treating it as such, he said.

Naomi Long, Northern Ireland’s justice minister, commended the police response and condemned the incident. “This is a shameful and dangerous attack that has put lives at risk and caused disruption and upset to the local community. There is absolutely no place for this utterly reckless and abhorrent behaviour.”

Carla Lockhart, a Democratic Unionist party (DUP) MP who represents the constituency, said those responsible sought to maximise disruption and drag Lurgan back to the Troubles. “Lurgan has moved on and sadly there’s a small nucleus of people who want to agitate and drag it back. It’s not what people are at, it’s not what people want – what people want is to be a society.”

The Provisional IRA pioneered the tactic in 1990 when it strapped Patsy Gillespie, an army canteen worker, into a bomb-laden van and forced him to drive to an army checkpoint, where the explosion killed Gillespie and five soldiers. Dissident republicans have replicated the tactic but often with hoax bombs.

John O’Dowd, a Sinn Féin Stormont assembly member, condemned the Lurgan incident and offered solidarity to the driver. “Those behind this morning’s actions represent no one but themselves, and stand isolated from the community. Progress will not be stymied by these people, Lurgan will continue to move forward.”