Over 128 persons rescued from bandit captivity in Kaura Namoda, Zamfara State were yesterday reunited with their families by the Federal Government.
The victims, comprising men, women and children, were freed in two waves of military and intelligence operations earlier this month, according to National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
Ribadu assured Nigerians that the Federal Government would intensify the onslaught against terrorists. He vowed that there will be no safe haven for criminals.
He gave the assurance in Abuja yesterday.
Ribadu said: ‘Let me be unequivocally clear: this work will continue. There will be no respite in our operations. There will be no safe haven for those who terrorise our citizens. We will hunt them, we will find them, and we will bring them to justice – or they will meet the same fate as the many kingpins already neutralized by our forces’.
He hailed the military, security and intelligence agencies for their role in the rescue. He described their efforts as a ‘crushing blow to the networks of terror that seek to undermine our peace’.
The NSA assured Nigerians that the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would sustain both kinetic and non-kinetic measures in the fight against insecurity.
He noted that the government had, in recent months, reunited mothers with their children, husbands with their wives, and communities with their loved ones.
‘Each rescue is a victory for the Nigerian people’, he said.
Beyond the rescue, the NSA emphasised that victims would receive trauma care and psychosocial support before reuniting with their families, insisting that ‘healing is as important as the rescue itself’.
Ribadu also urged citizens to remain vigilant and support security forces with timely information. He said their resilience and cooperation were key to defeating criminal networks
The rescue, he added, was not an isolated event but part of a broader security strategy designed to dismantle bandit groups and restore peace across Nigeria.
The National coordinator, National Counter-Terrorism Centre , Maj.-Gen. Adamu Laka explained that the victims were freed during coordinated security operations carried out in two phases earlier this month.
According to him, the first group of victims — 42 individuals comprising 14 males, 27 females, and a toddler — were rescued on August 14. The second group- 88 individuals made up of 34 males and 54 females, got freedom on 19 August.
‘Unfortunately, among the second group, we lost one of the children due to illness, likely from the fatigue they suffered while in captivity.
‘In addition, one of the women gave birth prematurely after the rescue, and the baby is currently receiving medical attention’, Maj. Gen Laka added.
He noted that since their rescue, the victims have been under the care of the ONSA where they received psychological support, medical treatment, and rehabilitation.
‘With their recovery process ongoing, we are now handing them over to the Zamfara State Government for reintegration with their families and communities’, Maj. Gen. Laka added.
The Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Tanko Sununu, hailed the efforts of the government and security agencies in rescuing the victims.
Sununu, however, advised the victims to see their freedom as an opportunity to strive for their future, urging them to embrace education.
