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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
Men of the Zamfara State Police Command have rescued 27 people abducted by armed men in Bukkuyum and Anka Local Government Areas of the state.
The command’s spokesperson, SP Muhammad Shehu, in a statement on Saturday said the 27 rescued victims were abducted by an armed group in Akawa, Gwashi, Tungar Rogo and some villages in Anka Local Government and taken to camps at Gando/Bagega and Sunke forests in Bukkuyum and Anka Local Government Areas, respectively.
He said the rescue of the victims follows the report received by the command that a group of bandits had invaded the named villages and abducted an unspecified number of people and taken them to Gando/Bagega/ Sunke forests where they spent a week in captivity.
“On receiving the report, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Kolo Yusuf, deployed additional Police Tactical Operatives to reinforce DPOs in Anka and Bukkuyum Local Government Areas and vigilantes to rescue the abducted victims.
“Luckily enough, a well-coordinated search and rescue operation was carried out with the full support and partnership of the two local governments’ sole administrators. At the moment, 17 out of 27 were brought to the Police Command Headquarters while the 10 other victims are in the hospital receiving medical attention following the trauma they passed through while in captivity,” the police spokesperson said.
Shehu further explained that all the victims had been debriefed by the police detectives, adding that the Commissioner of Police would formally hand over the victims to the state’s Commissioner of Security and Home Affairs, DIG Ibrahim Mamman Tsafe (rtd.), who would reunite them with their families on behalf of the state government.