Police authorities in Zamfara say they have rescued 24 people abducted by bandits in Shinkafi and Tsafe Local Government Areas of the state.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Ayuba Elkana, made this disclosure during a press briefing on Tuesday at the command headquarters in Gusau, the state capital.
According to him, those rescued by the security operatives were five students, including a student of the Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda.
He said the four other students as pupils of the Government Day Secondary School, Birnin Yero in Shinkafi LGA, who were abducted on their way back from writing the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
“On November 22, at about 1900hrs, Police Tactical Operatives deployed on Shinkafi axis, while on search and rescue operations, with regard to the abduction of the students and other victims, acted on intelligence and rescued the students, along with eight others,“ Elkana said.
“The victims, who spent 60 days in captivity, have now been rescued unconditionally.
“The police tactical team deployed on Gusau-Tsafe-Funtua road, on November 22, also succeeded in rescuing 11 passengers abducted by armed bandits while travelling in the night.
“The travellers were plying the road at about 11.30 p.m. in two Golf 3 vehicles with registration numbers: AE 535 ARG and GUS 274 XF when the hoodlums struck.
“I want to use this opportunity to warn members of the public, especially travellers and commercial drivers, that the order of the state government restricting movement into the state at night time is still in force.
“Considering the time and period in which the bandits block the road and abduct innocent people, the command, under my watch, will arrest and prosecute any person or group of persons found violating this order.”
The state’s Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, who received the victims on behalf of the government, commended the police and other security agencies for the efforts.
