At least 308 people who had been abducted in separate attacks across northern Nigeria have been rescued, President Bola Tinubu announced on Wednesday, in what he described as the largest rescue operation ever carried out by the country’s security forces in a single day, reports AP.
Those freed include 163 people seized from the Woro community in the Kaiama area of Kwara state back in February, along with 145 others kidnapped mostly from Niger state, Tinubu said in a statement.
Details of the operation itself were not disclosed, with the statement saying only that the captives, who had spent months in captivity, were rescued from a forest and are now receiving medical attention.
Tinubu praised the operation as evidence of improving coordination among Nigeria’s security services, saying its successful execution demonstrated the growing efficiency and collaboration among the country’s security services.
He commended the men and women in uniform for their bravery and unwavering commitment to safeguarding Nigerian lives. Abductions at schools are a recurring problem in Nigeria, where militant groups often target them as a means of pressuring the government and extracting ransom payments.
Armed groups known locally as bandits regularly stage raids and kidnappings for ransom across the north-west and north-central regions of the country. Authorities say these groups are made up largely of former herders who took up arms against farming communities following clashes over increasingly scarce resources.
Nigeria’s north-east, meanwhile, continues to grapple with an insurgency that has persisted for more than a decade.
