Troops rescue 4 kidnapped Federal University Gusau students

Four students of the Federal University Gusau, FUGUS, who were recently kidnapped by some unknown gunmen have been reportedly rescued by troops of the Operation Hadarin Daji of the Nigerian Army, in collaboration with the operative of the Zamfara Police Command.

This was made known Sunday, in a statement by the Information Officer of Operation Hadarin Daji, Capt. Yahaya Ibrahim in Gusau.

According to the statement, the students were traced and rescued by the security operatives after a counter operation was launched as soon as they were tipped of the student’s unfortunate adoption from their off-campus residence which is located at Sabon Gida under the Damba area of Gusau Local Government Area of the state.

A representative of the Student Union Government, SUG of FUGUS led by Bello Aliyu had told news men that Damba village is about seven kilometres from the main campus adding that prior to their abduction, “the school management had advised students residing in that area to leave because of the frequency of bandit operations there. This was even before the first attack.” he said.

“However, there is also a military base close to the axis, which made it difficult for the bandits to leave with the abducted students last night,” he added.

Capt. Ibrahim in his statement said, “the combined troops of Operation Hadarin Daji in conjunction with state police command have rescued the four kidnapped students of the Federal University Gusau (FUGUS), who were abducted at their off campus hostels by the terrorists in Sabongida Community on Saturday.

“The rescue was successfully achieved after the troops responded to the distress call on the incident.

“The troops immediately mobilized and formed a blocking position at a possible withdrawal route which led to a heavy gun duel with the terrorists.

“During the encounter with our superiority force, the terrorists abandoned the victims around 12 midnight and they later were rescued by the troops,” Yahaya explained.

Recall that the gunmen had recently kidnapped 25 students of the same institution and nine construction workers at the same community.

While security operatives have so far rescued 13 students and three construction workers, there are other victims still in the bandits’ captivity.

Similarly, in a recent operation in Nasarawa, gunmen had reportedly abducted four students of the Nasarawa State University in Lafia, the state capital.

During the incident which occurred early Tuesday, Nasarawa police spokesman, Ramhan Nansel in a statement said the gunmen invaded a lodge for students of the Nasarawa State University, near the capital city of Abuja, and took the students hostage.

According to the Police, security forces in state responded to a distress call about the attack early Tuesday morning and “combed the area, but to no avail.”

He however revealed that the police commissioner has ordered a manhunt for the culprits “with a view to rescuing the four victims unhurt.”

Meanwhile, according to a publication by ABC News, “Nigerians have in recent years grappled with rampant school abductions which are blamed on bandit groups mostly made up of young pastoralists from Nigeria’s Fulani tribe caught up in a decades-long conflict between host communities and herdsmen over limited access to water and land in remote areas.

“The frequency of the attacks has reduced over the last year amid special security operations targeting the armed groups.

“Although Tinubu has taken some steps to improve Nigeria’s security challenges, including appointing new security chiefs, the government has not been able to end the violence and stop the abductions, said Confidence MacHarry, from the Lagos-based SBM Intelligence security firm.

“Security is not as much a priority to the president as the economy,” MacHarry said, pointing out Nigeria security forces need to collaborate more and deploy more in violent hotspots.

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