Kogi State Government has announced that the two women abducted in the Yagba West Local Government Area of the state have been successfully rescued.
This was made known in a statement on Saturday by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Kingsley Femi Fanwo.
He detailed the current security efforts in the state, highlighting that the administration of the State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo is determined to overcome the recent wave of criminal activities.
The statement read, “It is believed that the torrent of attacks on insurgents, bandits, and kidnappers in the North East has dislodged them and many of them are now trying to find their feet in the North Central but the Kogi State Government is deploying an iron-cast approach to safeguarding the state from the fangs of criminals.
“With the rescue of 21 out of the 24 Confluence University of Science and Technology, (CUSTECH) Osara students kidnapped last week so far, the State Government made a clear statement that Kogi will be ruthless against criminals in the State. This morning, we also received the heart-warming report of the rescue of the Yagba West woman who was kidnapped and another woman from Yagba East Local Government Area.
“We are still searching frantically for the 3 remaining students yet to be rescued as every Kogite’s life is important to the government. We have also secured the release of scores of kidnapped victims who are not even Kogites but who were kidnapped in their various states and taken to the forests.”
The Commissioner added that Ododo had approved the immediate employment of thousands of local hunters across the 21 Local Government Areas.
Their immediate task is to pursue the criminals and confront them in their camps and hideouts.
“The Joint Forces of the Army, Police, DSS, NSCDC, Metropolitan Response Squad and Hunters Group are currently carrying our simultaneous operations in Lokoja as well as across the three Senatorial Districts, including border communities around Kogi State.
“Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo has silently declared war on criminals in the state and deployed resources and forces to ensure the enemies of our people are defeated. The Governor also expresses profound gratitude to the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR for his support and encouragement to make Kogi a crime-free state.
“We want to assure our people that the Government is working hard to protect everyone and that the criminals are learning in a hard way that Kogi won’t be a ground for their criminal trade. The criminals are rattled and they won’t escape justice,” Fanwo said.
He urged the citizens of Kogi State to play their part by providing intelligence to security agencies to enhance the state’s security efforts.
