The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Special Forces (SF) on Wednesday rescued 26 kidnapped victims while on a fighting patrol mission along Birnin Gwari-Kaduna Road, Kaduna State, Northwest Nigeria.
NAF Director of Public Relations and Information (DOPRI), Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, said in a statement that the “the rescue operation occurred when the SF came across five abandoned vehicles with their doors ajar near Anguwar Yako, an indication of forced removal or evacuation and likely kidnap scene. Acting on instincts, the SF began exploiting the general scene of the abduction and extended for about three kilometres radius well into the bushes while clearing the general area.
“Upon sighting the SF, about 3 kidnapped escapees suddenly came out from the bushes. Further search by the SF led to the discovery of four different groups of victims hiding in the bushes. After a thorough search further into the hinterland, a total of 26 victims were rescued.
“On interrogation, the victims who were traveling from Birnin Gwari to various locations including Kaduna, Minna and Kano, revealed that while enroute, large number of bandits in three groups suddenly appeared from the bushes from 3 different directions along the route and surrounded their vehicles.
“However, on sighting the SF, the kidnappers fled into the bushes with a handful of the victims while the other majority took cover and hid in the bushes until they sighted the SF.
“The NAF SF have extended their operations within the area with the hope of rescuing the remaining kidnapped victims while those rescued have since been moved to the 461 NAF Hospital Kaduna for thorough medical examination.”