Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke have rescued about 34 kidnapped victims, apprehended suspected kidnappers and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition in Benue State, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) said on Friday.
Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja, said the feat was recorded following a credible intelligence on the activities of a notorious kidnap syndicate operating in Igbom village in Nenzev council ward of Logo Local Government Area of the state.
He said the troops of Sectors 2 and 4 carried out a raid operation on a suspected kidnappers den at Tomayin village in Logo on July 16, killing their ring leaders, just as they engaged the criminal elements in hot pursuit leading to the killing of one Zwa Ikyegh identified as the ring leader and others escaped with various degrees of gun shots wounds.
“The successful encounter led to the rescue of 32 kidnapped victims some of whom have been in captivity for over a month. All the rescued kidnapped victims have been reunited with their families in different communities in Logo Local Government Area.
Troops also recovered one AK 47 rifle, one AK 47 magazine, 6 locally made rifle, one locally made pistol and a magazine. Others include 22 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammunition, 2 cartridges, 2 motorcycles and some Charms and the hideout has been equally destroyed”.
Enenche said the troops also responded to a distress call on another kidnapping incident at Austoma in Mbanema Council ward of Ukum Local Government Area, adding that the troops promptly mobilized to the scene leading to the arrest of two suspects simply identified as Sealemun and Orduem, both of whom are linked to late Terugwa Igbagwa alias Orjondu.
He noted that the troops recovered one motorcycle which the kidnappers were using for their heinous crimes, while the suspects are currently undergoing investigation after which they will be handed over to the Nigeria Police for further necessary action. “Troops have continued to dominate the area with patrols and ambushes while normalcy has since been restored in the general area”.
