Nigerian security agencies have announced a series of operations across several states that freed kidnap victims and dismantled criminal networks, offering relief to families who had waited anxiously through long periods of captivity. The homecomings were described as a significant milestone in the effort to reunite every victim with their loved ones, even as authorities said they were still working to secure the release of others and to bring the perpetrators to justice.
In one case, abductees who had been held for months were rescued and transported from a neighbouring Niger State location to Ilorin, where they were received by the Nigerian Army's 2 Division at Sobi barracks before being moved to a secured location. The rescued abductees were expected to be formally handed over to the Kwara State governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, whose administration said it maintains close engagement with security agencies. Officials said they were continuing to verify the total number of those rescued and to provide medical, psychological and humanitarian support.
In Ogun State, seven students of a state-owned polytechnic in the Remo North Local Government Area who had been abducted by kidnappers regained their freedom following a joint operation by the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies. The students were rescued in the early hours of Thursday after spending about a week in captivity. The state government assured residents that it would continue to strengthen the state's security architecture through sustained investment in security infrastructure and logistical support for security agencies.
According to the account of the operation, after the students were taken for medical treatment at police medical services, a helicopter working with ground forces stormed the kidnappers and rescued the remaining two victims. Two of the kidnappers were subsequently arrested and, according to the police, are in custody and providing information to investigators. The combination of aerial and ground assets was presented as central to freeing the captives and cornering the suspects.
Elsewhere, police rescued four people who had been kidnapped along the Lagos-Benin Expressway. The victims had been seized on July 13 after three armed men disguised in vigilante uniforms blocked a section of the road with logs and leaves before attacking motorists and taking some of them into the forest. A combined team of police operatives, members of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, local hunters and other security personnel then launched a bush-combing operation supported by drone technology.
The sustained operation forced the kidnappers to abandon their captives and flee. The four rescued victims, identified as Muritala Babatunde, Bello Aminat, Otto Prince and Yaya Gift, were reunited with their families unharmed, while police said they were continuing the manhunt for the fleeing suspects. The rescues added to a picture of security forces leaning on coordinated teams and technology to respond to abductions on major highways.
In Kaduna State, the Police Command said it had intensified its crackdown on criminal networks, recording what it called major successes over the previous two weeks. The State Commissioner of Police, Rabiu Mohammed, told a news conference that operatives had arrested 16 suspected kidnappers and neutralised notorious kidnappers in separate operations, recovering several firearms. He said a suspected kidnap kingpin, Abdullahi Mohammed, was arrested on July 24 near Karagi village with two locally made pistols, and that detectives had also uncovered a counterfeit-currency syndicate with the arrest of a 20-year-old, Aisha Barau, alongside the recovery of 190 solar inverters, a stolen Toyota Sienna, drugs and livestock.