(forest guards and some of the rescued victims. Photo Credit: Punch News)
A coordinated security operation in Kwara State’s Ekiti Local Government Area resulted in the rescue of nine kidnapped individuals and the death of three suspected bandits.
Together with Department of State Services agents, local hunters, and vigilantes in the Obbo-Aiyegunle, Ejiu-Ora, and Osi axis of the local government, which borders the states of Ekiti and Kogi, Kwara State-recruited Forest Guards conducted the operation.
Nine kidn@pped victims have been rescued in a joint security operation in Kwara State, with three suspected b@ndits neutralised in the process.
The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of Ekiti Local Government Council, Dada Sunday, confirmed the development in a statement made available in Ilorin on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the victims were abducted from Eju community after the local market and were being moved through a forest route towards Niger State before the joint security team intercepted the kidn@ppers.
One of the rescued victims, Umaru Muazu of Obbo-Aiyegunle, recounted how the att@ckers seized him and his son during the incident, describing how men appeared from nowhere and held a gun to his head before four of them took him and his son, along with his friend’s motorcycle.
He said fear gripped him and he fell to the ground during the ordeal.
Another rescued victim, Ibrahim Danga, also from Obbo-Aiyegunle, said they had been held briefly by the kidn@ppers before security operatives arrived and secured their freedom.
A member of the Kwara Forest Guards, Owolabi Adebayo, said the rescue followed an intelligence-led bush-combing operation that resulted in a gun battle with the suspected b@ndits, disclosing that three of them were neutralised and nine people rescued, with one of the victims receiving treatment for injuries.
He appealed for improved logistics and equipment to strengthen ongoing operations against criminal groups operating in the forests, noting that the b@ndits possessed virtually every type of firearm, and stressed the need for more equipment such as body armour, binoculars, night-vision goggles, walkie-talkies and additional ammunition to confront them.
The Chief Security Officer of Ekiti Local Government Area, Agbemuko Gabriel, commended the forest guards for their role in the operation, describing their contribution as significant to the area’s security efforts.
He noted that the same group had helped rescue victims kidn@pped along the Ora-Yetoro axis two days earlier, commending their continued security and intelligence work.
According to the statement, footage from the scene showed security operatives displaying several motorcycles allegedly recovered from the suspected b@ndits, while the rescued victims were also presented after the operation.
The rescue comes amid sustained security operations across Kwara’s southern axis, where authorities have intensified bush-combing exercises and joint patrols to curb kidn@pping and b@nditry in border communities.
The development also follows the recent approval by President Bola Tinubu for the establishment of a new Nigerian Army battalion in Omu-Aran, Irepodun Local Government Area, to strengthen military operations against b@nditry, t3rrorism and other violent crimes in the state.