Troops operating in the North Central zone have dealt a heavy blow to the activities of notorious kidnapping syndicates, successfully rescuing four abducted victims, including a heavily pregnant woman.
The successful rescues followed coordinated, high-octane operations conducted inside Kogi State and along the volatile Kogi–Kwara border communities, where security forces have sustained intense pressure on criminal elements.
The major security breakthrough was disclosed by Zagazola Makama, a frontline counter-insurgency and security expert, who tracked the multi-layered operations across the axis.
According to operational reports, the first victory was recorded by troops of the 121 Battalion stationed at the Abocho Patrol Base. At about 10:00 pm on July 7, the eagle-eyed troops intercepted and rescued a female victim along the Abocho–Ajegwuwa–Ohuwda Road in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The victim, visibly shaken, narrated to security personnel that heavily armed men had violently abducted her from her residence in the Ajiyolo Community back on July 5.
In another daring operation, rugged troops of the 12 Brigade holding the Ogbagbo Block Position struck gold during a tactical night patrol along the Jakura–Ogbagbo Road at about 3:45 am on July 8. The troops rescued a pregnant woman who had been languishing in the hands of kidnappers.
“I was kidnapped near Obajana Community alongside three others since June 28. But the way the army was shooting and closing in on the camp forced the kidnappers to abandon us and run for their lives. That was how I managed to escape,” the traumatized expectant mother revealed.
The military onslaught extended to the border separating Kogi and Kwara states. Troops stationed at the Isanlu Patrol Base, while combing the bushes around Latta Community, intercepted two other victims who had successfully broken free from a bandits’ den.
The victims confessed that they were forcefully taken by gunmen while working on their farmlands in the Latta area of Patigi Local Government Area of Kwara State. They were dragged into a notorious kidnappers’ fortress deep inside the Chigogo Hills area of Kwara before the military’s superior firepower disorganized the camp, allowing them to flee.
Following their rescue, all four victims were immediately given medical attention and initial psychosocial care by the military medical team before being formally reunited with their joyful families.
Military authorities have praised the troops for their gallantry and re-echoed their uncompromising stance to sustain the aggressive clearance operations until all criminal elements, bandits, and kidnappers are completely flushed out of the North Central forests.
