A notorious kidnapper identified as Maidawa and several of his foot soldiers have reportedly been eliminated in an encounter with joint security forces around Isanlu-Isin in Kwara State.
This is just as Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Thursday visited Oke Ode and other communities hit by recent attacks to commiserate with victims.
Quoting security sources, the government said the engagement occurred on 30 September when troops pressed forward with intensified operations aimed at flushing out armed gangs terrorising rural communities.
According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, ‘Intercepts by the state security service revealed that Maidawa’s death was broken to other gang members by another wanted kidnapper, Baccujo, in a monitored conversation along Igboro-Idofin road, with his associates based as far away as Marabar Maigora in Sabuwa Local Government Area of Katsina State’.
He said the coordinated operation, part of a broader push across Ekiti, Ifelodun, Isin, Edu, and Patigi local government areas, followed renewed calls from the state government for urgent interventions to stem repeated abductions and killings.
‘Security forces, working with local vigilante groups and forest guards, have since stepped up raids on hideouts, determined to end what officials described as cowardly attacks on civilian populations’, the statement said.
Meanwhile, Governor AbdulRazaq visited Oke-Ode in Ifelodun Local Government to sympathise with the families of victims of the most recent attacks.
Daily Trust reports that the visit is coming in the wake of the last bandit attacks in Oke-Ode, where the police confirmed 12 deaths and several injuries.
The governor, who prayed for the repose of the souls lost, applauded the security forces for their sacrifices and reassured residents of the government’s resolve to restore lasting peace.
