Twelve kidnap victims have been rescued by security agencies in collaboration with some repentant bandits in Katsina State.
The victims who are largely passengers were rescued following a joint operation of the Nigeria Police, the Army in partnership with the state government.
The rescued victims mostly women and children were reportedly kidnapped by a group of bandits along Yantumaki-Burunkuza road in Danmusa Local Government Area of the state.
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In a press conference on Wednesday, the spokesman State Police Command, Gambo Isah, said the rescued victims were handed over to the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr Mustapha Inuwa.
According to him, the SSG ordered “their immediate treatment, welfare and subsequent reunion with their respective members of their families as an investigation is ongoing.”
“On 22/03/2020 at about 21:00hrs, a group of bandits armed with AK 47 rifles, blocked the road between Yantumaki to Burunkuza and attacked a commercial motor vehicle, a bus belonging to Niger State Government with registration number NIGER_14B_50NG driven by one Shu’aibu Muhammed, M, aged 45 years of Niger state and kidnapped the passengers,” he said.
Three notorious syndicates of bandits/ kidnappers, drug dealers and armed robbers were also paraded by the police.
Exhibits recovered from the suspects were 96 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition and the sum of N708,000.
Others include 679 bottles of codeine syrup worth over N2million, 2,000 tablets of tramadol worth over N500,000, one HP laptop computer, one Pup Two GSM handset, recharge cards of different networks and the sum of N200,000 naira cash including some household items.
