The Kaduna State Police Command has said 76 kidnap victims have been rescued by men of the police in Giwa Local Government Area of the state.
This Day reported that the spokesman of the command, Mohammed Jalige, said this in a statement on Monday in Kaduna.
He said the victims, which comprise males and females, were passengers who were abducted on their way from Sabon Birni LGA of Sokoto State, travelling to different destinations.
He said: “On November 18, at about 2300hrs, the Divisional Police Headquarters in Giwa received reports that a large number of bandits blocked a section of Funtua-Zaria Road at Gulbala area of Giwa LGA and abducted many commuters.
“On the strength of the report, a combined team of police and military were immediately mobilised to the location with clear directives to dismantle the road blockade, root out the armed miscreants and rescue any victims they may have abducted.”
“On reaching the location, a Ford open truck with Reg. No. APP 667 XG, was found and information garnered had it that a large number of passengers on the truck were moved off the road by the bandits.
“This development engendered an immediate search and rescue operation by the operatives into the adjourning forest.
“In the process, the bandits were encountered and by the sheer force of fire power, pressure mounted on them by the security operatives.
“They were left with no option than to abort their nefarious mission and take to flight with injuries.
“76 people abducted by the bandits were rescued after security operatives combed the forest for several hours.”
According to the police spokesperson, security operatives were still searching for the driver of the truck and two other passengers who were missing.
The statement added that, the Kaduna State Police Commissioner, Yekini Ayoku, while noting this breakthrough which was achieved through strong inter-service coordination and collaboration, assured the people of continuous cooperation among all security agencies “to extricate the public space from the enemies of our collective security”.
