Nigerian Army-led security forces have rescued 16 people abducted by suspected kidnappers in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
Appolonia Anele, Acting Director Army Public Relations, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
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Ms Anele said the victims were rescued after troops of the Nigerian Army, working with the Navy, police, local vigilantes and hunters, engaged their abductors in a gun battle.
They had been abducted on Sunday, 9 August, when armed men attacked commuters along the Ojuwo-Ajengo-Memarebo and Ojiwo-Itobe roads in Ofu Local Government Area.
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According to the army, troops of the 21 Battalion and personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship Lugard launched a search-and-rescue operation after receiving intelligence that the victims had been moved towards Adumu in Dekina Local Government Area.
The joint team subsequently encountered the fleeing kidnappers and engaged them in a gun battle.
“The criminals abandoned all their captives and escaped into the surrounding forest with gunshot wounds,” Ms Anele said.
The rescued victims comprised six adult males, six adult females and four children. They are undergoing documentation and medical assessment before being reunited with their families.
The army said one local hunter was killed during the operation, while a police officer sustained injuries and is receiving medical treatment.
The rescue comes amid renewed security operations across Kogi following a series of kidnapping incidents in the state.
On 9 August, the Kogi Police Command said its operatives rescued 15 kidnap victims after a gun battle with their abductors along the Itobe-Anyigba Highway in Ofu Local Government Area.
The incident occurred around 4 p.m. between Ojuwo Ajengo and Mamerebo, an area the police described as a kidnapping flashpoint.
The latest army account places the number of victims rescued in the operation at 16.
The development also follows intensified security operations along other parts of the state.
On 8 August, the Kogi Police Command said it had deployed a joint team to forests and suspected criminal hideouts around the Okene-Ajaokuta axis following a kidnapping incident along the Okene-Auchi Road.
The operation involved the police’s Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Violent Crime Response Unit, mobile police personnel and the Nigerian Army, with support from the Edo State Police Command along the Kogi-Edo border.
The repeated attacks have raised concerns about criminal groups exploiting forested and border areas as hideouts and escape routes.
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The army attributed the latest rescue to intelligence sharing and cooperation between security agencies and local security stakeholders.
It urged residents to remain vigilant and provide timely information on suspicious activities to security agencies.
The latest operation also comes less than a month after security agencies conducted several rescue operations involving abducted residents and students in Kogi.
On 16 July, the Kogi State Government announced the rescue of a secondary school principal, a NECO official and two students who were abducted during an attack on an examination centre in Olowa, Dekina Local Government Area.
The government had said the victims were rescued after security forces saturated the surrounding forest and mounted sustained pressure on the kidnappers.
The renewed operations underscore the continuing security challenge in Kogi, particularly along major highways and forest corridors where armed groups have repeatedly attacked travellers and communities.
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