Three suspected bandits have been killed while nine abducted victims regained their freedom during a Kwara bandit rescue operation in Ekiti Local Government Area.
According to Vanguard, operatives of the Department of State Services carried out the intelligence-led operation with the Kwara State Forest Guards, local hunters and vigilantes.
The security team confronted the kidnappers around Obbo Aiyegunle, Ejiu Ora and Osi. The communities sit close to the border between Kwara and Ekiti states.
The gunmen reportedly exchanged fire with the operatives before fleeing into the forest. They abandoned nine captives as the security team advanced on their position.
The rescued victims included farmers kidnapped from their farmlands and people earlier taken from neighbouring Ekiti State.
Three suspected members of the armed group died during the confrontation. Security personnel then moved the rescued victims away from the area.
Intelligence leads to Kwara bandit rescue
The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of Ekiti Local Government Area, Dada Sunday, confirmed the operation on Wednesday.
Sunday said intelligence gathered by security agencies helped the team identify the location where the kidnappers held their victims.
According to him, more than 10 armed men had gathered people abducted from different locations before the security operatives arrived.
The gunmen attempted to resist the rescue team but could not withstand the sustained response from the operatives.
One of the rescued victims suffered a serious head injury after a kidnapper attacked him with a machete. The assault reportedly occurred when he resisted the attempt to abduct him.
Victims recount ordeal
Umaru Muazu, a resident of Obbo Aiyegunle, said the armed men suddenly appeared and pointed a gun at him.
He said four members of the group seized him and his son before taking a motorcycle belonging to his friend.
“They came from nowhere and pointed a gun to my head. Four of them took me and my son,” Muazu said.
“They also took my friend’s motorcycle before marching us into the bush.”
Another rescued farmer, Ibrahim Danga, said the kidnappers held the victims in the forest until security personnel launched the operation.
The captives remained together as the gun battle began. They regained their freedom after the attackers abandoned them and escaped.
Forest guards seek more equipment
A member of the Kwara State Forest Guards, Owolabi Adebayo, also confirmed that intelligence guided the operation.
“We neutralised three of them and rescued nine victims,” Adebayo said.
He described the kidnappers as heavily armed and said they carried different types of firearms during the confrontation.
Adebayo appealed for more equipment to strengthen the ability of forest guards to confront armed groups operating in difficult terrain.
He listed body armour, binoculars, night-vision goggles, walkie-talkies and ammunition among the items needed by the personnel.
The operation comes amid growing concern over kidnappings around communities bordering Kwara and Ekiti states.
Security agencies have increasingly relied on local hunters, vigilantes and forest guards because of their knowledge of remote routes and forests.
The joint team is expected to continue searching the surrounding areas for other members of the armed group who escaped during the operation.
