The Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Taoreed Abiodun Lagbaja has commended the troops deployed in 1 Division area of responsibility in Kaduna for the successful rescue of the kidnap victims and charged them to remain vigilant as they conduct ongoing counter insurgency operations to liberate all troubled areas in the country.
Director Army Public Relations, Maj. General Onyema Nwachukwu disclosed this on Monday in a statement signed and made available to SpyeTV News in Abuja.
According to General Nwachukwu the Nigerian Army troops deployed in 1 Division area of responsibility in Kaduna State successfully averted a kidnap attempt by a violent extremist and insurgent group and rescued the abductees in Tantatu Community of Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
He explained that troops responding to actionable intelligence on 17 March 2024 at about 10:30pm swiftly tracked the insurgents who had earlier attacked the community in numbers and abducted some of the villagers as hostages.
"On arriving the scene of the incident, the troops tenaciously pursued the insurgents, engaging them in a ferocious exchange of fire and consequently rescuing 16 kidnapped victims.
"The troops are still exploiting the bushes in continuation of the search and rescue operations to extricate other victims and balk the nefarious activities of the insurgents."