The People’s Republic of China on Sunday commended the Nigerian government for the rescue of four of its citizens kidnapped in Kwara State.
The rescue operation was conducted jointly by Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Department of State Services (DSS), and the military.
Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Yu Dunhai, represented by the Consul of the embassy, Wang Jun, who spoke at the formal handover of the rescued kidnapees at the DSS medical facility in Abuja, lauded the nation’s secret Police for the swift intelligence-led operation, which he stated, resulted in the safe and timely rescue of the Chinese miners.
The Chinese nationals, identified as Dansu Zhou, Zhou Hai, Zhou Jia Jun, and Fan Xiu Guo, were rescued on Saturday by a joint team of security operatives compromising the Office of the National Security Adviser, (ONSA), DSS, Nigerian Army and the Police.
The Consul also thanked the DSS for what he described as the outstanding medical care the Service gave the rescued foreigners at their medical facility in Abuja, saying the move significantly contributed to the well-being and quick recovery of the kidnapees.
He praised the DSS medical facility in Abuja, stressing that up until the incident, the Chinese government was unaware that the DSS had such a state-of-the-art medical facility.
“Following their rescue, DSS operatives immediately took the our citizens to their facilty for medical evaluation. Then they were thoroughly examined by the best professionals before moving them to our embassy in Abuja,” noted Xingwei.
It was revealed that the Chinese nationals were ambushed and abducted by a gang of seven AK-47 – wielding bandits, on their way to a mining site at Saminaka village, Yagba West LGA, Kogi state.
It would be recalled that recent operations by the DSS across states in Nigeria have targeted criminal syndicates leading to disruption of their activities, interception of arms and ammunition, and dismantling of their networks.
Commendations have been pouring in for the Service for a recent major operation in Asaba, Delta State, in which the Service intercepted seven General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG), arms and ammunition, with stakeholders describing the feat as evidence of the commitment of the DSS to tackling insecurity and restoring peace and stability across the country.
