Troops in Lokoja, Kogi state, with support from local vigilante groups, have rescued 100 people said to be victims of kidnappers who terrorized communities around Kogi-Nasarawa boundary and travellers who passed through the area for over eight years.
The kidnap victims who are mostly women and children were rescued from Darusalam by troops of the 177 battalion and the army records, Lokoja.
According to Mohammed Onogwu, the chief press secretary to Governor Yahaya Bello, the camp located at Ittu is home to about 2,000 kidnappers and some Boko Haram members.
The statement reads;
Between last Saturday and Wednesday, about 100 persons, mostly women and children, were rescued and taken to Lafia, while yesterday at Achara in Tawari Ward of Kogi LGA, about 180 family members of Darusalam were captured. One of the suspects was shot dead while attempting to escape during the military clearing operations.
The logistics support of the Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, to the Nigerian Army helped in no small measure in the success recorded by men of the Nigerian Army in this latest operation.
Recall that the governor of Kogi state and chairman, security committee, Northern Governors Forum, during Eid-kabir celebrations told journalists in Okene that in days ahead, he will lead security operatives into the forest to unleash terror on criminals operating within the state.
