Troops of the Nigerian Army have neutralised four bandits and rescued 20 kidnapped persons in separate operations across Birnin Gwari and Giwa Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
Additionally, soldiers in Plateau State arrested five gunrunners, including a female, in the Jos North Local Government Area of the state.
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, in a statement on Tuesday, said troops of Operation Forest Sanity and Operation Whirl Punch conducted successful missions, resulting in the neutralization of the bandits and the rescue of the kidnapped victims.
Aruwan added that the first operation took place in Alawa, Birnin-Gwari LGA, where troops of Operation Forest Sanity embarked on a special clearance operation. The troops set up a blocking force and sighted bandit movement around Kwaga, pursuing and neutralizing two bandits on the spot. Recovered items include two AK-47 rifles, three magazines, three motorcycles, and one Baofeng Radio.
In another mission, troops of Sector 3, Operation Whirl Punch, deployed along Kwaga-Polewire Road, Birnin Gwari LGA, responded to a distress call and intercepted bandits who had kidnapped locals near Polewire village.
“The bandits fled, and the troops rescued the 20 kidnapped victims, reuniting them with their families,” the commissioner said.
He quoted Governor Uba Sani as expressing his delight at the news, praising the security forces for their efforts.
“I am thrilled to receive the news of the successful operations by our security forces.
“The neutralization of four bandits and the rescue of 20 kidnapped persons is a testament to the dedication and bravery of our troops,” the governor said, commending the General Officer Commanding, 1 Division Nigerian Army (and Force Commander Operation Whirl Punch), Maj. Gen. MLD Saraso, for the notable breakthroughs and rescues in the Birnin Gwari and Giwa general areas. “I urge our troops to sustain the momentum against bandits and insurgents in these locations and other areas of interest,” Sani added.
In Plateau State, troops of Operation Safe Haven arrested five gunrunners in the Jos North Local Government Area, including a female. It was learned that the suspects were arrested in the Bauchi Road community after the troops raided their hideout on Tuesday. The suspects were immediately moved in military vans to the headquarters of the Special Task Force in Jos, where they were paraded alongside the arms and ammunition recovered from them during the operation.
Briefing journalists at the STF headquarters, the spokesman for the Special Task Force, Maj. Samson Zhakom, said the suspects were undergoing interrogation for useful intelligence to aid in arresting other members of the syndicate and disrupting the gunrunning supply chain.
He said, “Troops of Operation Safe Haven, in pursuit of one of its core mandates of mopping up illegal arms and ammunition in the Joint Operations Area, arrested five notorious gunrunners and recovered arms and ammunition in an intelligence-driven operation carried out in Plateau State.
In an operation that lasted from midnight of September 16 to the early hours of September 17, Operation Safe Haven Delta Force and Sector 1 troops raided the hideout of a gunrunner identified as Mohammed Sani at Naraguta Mining Area in Bayameni along Bauchi Road in the Jos North LGA of Plateau State.
During the operation, troops arrested the suspected gunrunner and four others, as well as recovered weapons and ammunition of different calibres.”
By Godwin Isenyo and James Abraham- PUNCH
