DHQ: Troops rescued 42 kidnap victims, arrested 48 bandits in two weeks

The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says troops operating in the north-west and north-central have arrested 48 bandits, while 15 other gunmen have been killed in the past two weeks.

Bernard Onyeuko, acting director, defence media operations, said this on Thursday while giving an update on the operations of armed forces between October 29 and November 11.

Onyeuko said 42 kidnapped victims were rescued in different operations across the zones during the period under review.

“Under operation Hadarin Daji, troops carried out extensive land and air operations across the theatre leading to the arrest of 16 criminal elements, killing of 13 bandits and rescuing of six kidnapped civilians in the north-west,” he said.

He added that 12 assorted arms and 77 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition were recovered within the period.

Under operation Safe Haven, Onyeuko said the troops maintained continuous vigilance with constant land and air patrols to deny criminal elements “freedom of action”.

He said the general security situation in the Plateau had been relatively calm within the period in spite of pockets of incidents recorded in some locations.

He added that troops rescued 33 other kidnapped victims from bandits and arrested 23 “criminal elements” within the period.

Under operation Whirl Stroke, Onyeuko said the troops carried out clearance operations in parts of Benue and Nasarawa states, leading to the arrest of nine bandits, while two gunmen were killed and three victims were rescued.

According to him, 19 arms including AK-47 rifles, machine guns, two locally-made pistols, six extra rifle magazines and 79 rounds of ammunition were recovered.

“Other weapons recovered were 36 hand grenades, pump-action as well as locally-made rifles and ammunition,” he said.

“There is no gainsaying that the efforts of armed forces of Nigeria and other security agencies, both kinetic and non-kinetic, are yielding significant results.

“We will not relent nor rest on our oars in the fight against criminalities in all parts of the country.

“As always, the military high command commends the continued sacrifices of its troops and continues to salute their courage and resilience toward achieving sustainable peace in the country.”