The Federal Government, led by President Bola Tinubu, has so far freed over 1,000 abduction victims without having to pay a ransom, according to Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser, who made this announcement on Monday.
This was said by Ribadu when he greeted the 22 rescued students and faculty members from the Federal University of Gusau in Zamfara State on Sunday.
On September 22, 2023, the robbers stormed the campus and took around thirty faculty and staff members hostage.
While reaching the university to offer condolences to the families and school administrators over the situation, Mani Mummuni, the deputy governor of Zamfara State, urged security forces to expedite the rescue of the kidnapped students.
Yazid Abubakar, the spokesperson for the Zamfara State Police Command, stated in a news release that the command has sent out a second tactical squad to conduct search and rescue operations and would guarantee the release of all the abducted students.
The police noted that “On September 22, 2023, at about 0250hrs, suspected bandits, riding on about 50 motorcycles, armed with sophisticated weapons, invaded three students’ rented apartments in Sabon Gida Village near the Federal University, Gusau and kidnapped an unspecified number of students, taking them to an unknown destination.”
22 kids were held captive after two of the students managed to escape and seven of the children were saved.
Amongst the 22 people; 15 students and 7 university employees were saved on Sunday during a drill run by the National Counter-Terrorism Center.
The National Security Agency (NSA) expressed gratitude to the security personnel for saving the students “without losing anyone of them or paying any ransom” during their meeting with the kids in Abuja.
He said, “On behalf of the President, I thank all those involved in the successful rescue of the victims without losing anyone of them or paying any ransom.
“This is yet again a success story in our efforts to free all those being unlawfully held in captivity.
“We have so far released over a thousand such victims without noise and with complete respect to their privacy and safety.
“This occasion marks a final juncture in a series of rescues we have undertaken in the last few months, to free victims of recent cases of mass abductions.
“Going forward, we are strengthening law enforcement and security measures to prevent these abductions and strengthen physical security across vulnerable communities.”
Ribadu advised the staff and students at the university to turn their experiences into opportunities to grow rather than to break.
The military freed 137 students who had been abducted from Kaduna State in March; the federal government claims that no ransom was paid, even though the kidnappers had demanded N1 billion.
The NSA also praised security services for their sacrifices and thanked the parents of the rescued victims for their understanding and patience throughout this time.
The students were released in three batches, according to earlier statements made by Maj-Gen Adamu Laka (retd.), National Coordinator, NCTC, on search and rescue operations carried out by security authorities.
He said, “Search and rescue was conducted by a combined team of law enforcement agencies and the abductees were subsequently released in three batches, after 207 days in captivity.
“The first batch was rescued on March 15 the second batch was rescued on April 12 and the last batch rescued on April 14.
“All the abductees were profiled at NCTC while the ONSA Medical Team examined them and administered minor treatments on the bruises sustained by three of them.
“Four of them were diagnosed with malaria and are being treated. None of the females was molested and all the females tested negative for pregnancy test.”
