The Nigerian Army has rescued a kidnapped senior military officer, Lt Col. Ofor Amobi, and a civilian, Mr Ikechukwu Onwuanra, following a 10-day combined search-and-rescue operation in Enugu State.
This was stated in a military operations report made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday.
According to the military, the victims were liberated in the early hours of Friday morning after continued pressure on their captors.
According to the military, the operation was carried out by forces from Sector 1 of Operation UDO KA, which included personnel from the 82 Division Garrison, 103 Battalion (Reinforced), the Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service, and the 197 Special Forces Battalion.
According to the statement, troops headed by the Commander of the 82nd Division Garrison performed extensive searches of the Inyi, Awlaw, and Akpugo-Eze forests and communities in Enugu State’s Oji River Local Government Area.
According to the report, troops obtained information about the victims’ whereabouts from the Divisional Police Officer of the Inyi Division at about 2:00 a.m. on Friday.
It stated that the forces promptly launched a fighting patrol to the spot where the victims were discovered abandoned at the edge of a forest in Inyi.
According to the army, both victims sustained gunshot wounds and were rescued before being transported to the 82 Division Medical Hospital for treatment and examination.
Preliminary interrogation showed that the victims had been blindfolded, transferred to an unknown place, and then abandoned in a forest near the Enugu-Anambra border.
“The victims attributed their rescue to the sustained pressure mounted by the joint troops, which denied the kidnappers freedom of movement and compelled them to abandon their captives,” it stated.
The military stated that more information about the operation would be made public later.
