Security forces have rescued 32 kidnap victims and foiled a bandit attack in Rabah local government area of Sokoto state following a coordinated operation involving the police and the Nigerian Army.
The Sokoto state police command disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, July 29, saying the operation began after the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Rabah received a distress call at about 8:30 a.m. reporting the presence of a large group of armed bandits in Maikujera village, a remote community bordering Zamfara state.
According to the command, the attackers were moving with rustled livestock and dozens of abducted victims while firing sporadically at residents.
Acting on the intelligence, the DPO deployed the anti-kidnapping unit and the Violent Crime Reaction Unit (VCRU) and coordinated with the Nigerian Army’s Forward Operating Base (FOB), with security operatives taking strategic positions along escape routes.
The combined security teams engaged the bandits in a prolonged gun battle, forcing them to abandon the victims and the rustled livestock before fleeing into the surrounding forest.
A search-and-rescue operation later led to the recovery of all 32 victims, comprising six adult men and 26 females, most of whom were children.
The victims have been taken to a secure location where they are receiving medical attention and psychological support ahead of their reunion with their families.
The police, however, said four persons were killed by the bandits during the initial attack before security operatives arrived at the scene.
The commissioner of police in Sokoto state, Hayatu Hassan Shaffa, commiserated with the families of those killed and assured residents that efforts were ongoing to apprehend the fleeing suspects.
He reaffirmed the command’s commitment to tackling banditry and kidnapping across the state and urged residents to remain vigilant and promptly report suspicious activities to security agencies.
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