STF soldiers rescue 6 kidnapped persons in Bauchi.

Soldiers of the Special Task Force in Jos, ‘Operation Safe Haven’ have rescued six persons abducted on the 19th of November after intense exchange of gun fire around Zango-Lere forests in Lere district of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State.

The Operation Safe Haven is the multi-security task force maintaining peace in the 17 local government areas of Plateau as well as Bogoro and Tafawa Balewa local government areas of Bauchi State with its headquarters situated in Jos.

The families of the six Fulani persons rescued from captivity had earlier been asked to pay a ransom of N10 million, according to the OPSH Commander, Major General Rogers Nicholas.

Nicholas said the kidnappers later abandoned their victims due to “the superior fire power they encountered from men of the task force”.

It was gathered that the three male and three female victims, including two married women were taken into the forest and made to eat roasted yam for the two days they were held in captivity before they were rescued by security agents.  

Malam Isa Saleh, father of one of the victims, said the attackers stormed their settlement in Lere village around 11pm on the 19th of November, causing pandemonium among the residents before they made away with the victims.

 Saleh said the kidnappers did not shoot in the air as was the case with cattle rustlers but used touch lights to make their way into the settlement.

 “Because of the confusion some of us went out to control the cows but unknown to us, the attackers had gone into some houses to abduct our children,” he said.

The Commander, Forward Operation Base of the Tafawa Balewa, Colonel Adeola Kalejaiye, who led the rescue team while handing over the victims to their parents at the OPSH headquarters, said his men were committed to ensuring that cattle rustling and kidnapping in the area were brought under control.

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