Not less than eleven kidnapped persons have regained their freedom after they escaped their captors’ camp in the outskirts of Sabon Birni town in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
An investigation by security agencies on Thursday revealed that the 11 hostages are a mix of those kidnapped from Dumbin Rauga in Zaria Local Government Area and along the Kaduna-Zaria Highway.
Among them are five children between the ages of seven and 10 – all residents of Dumbin Rauga village in Zaria.
The six others are passengers travelling from Maiduguri in Borno State to Ilorin in Kwara State before they were abducted by bandits along the Kaduna-Zaria Road.
Following their escape from bandits’ custody, the 11 escapees were rescued by security operatives and subsequently reunited with their families.
The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs in Kaduna, Samuel Aruwan, also confirmed the incident to newsmen on Thursday.
According to him, the ongoing security operations in the state have dislodged many of the bandits’ camps, leaving them in disarray and enabling the escape of the hostages being held in captivity inside the camps.
It was reported that the families of those kidnapped at Dumbin Rauga had collectively paid a ransom of N3 million, but the bandits reneged on the agreement to release the captives.
They were said to have insisted that two motorcycles must be included in the ransom deal.
Elsewhere, troops of Operation Safe Haven rescued three kidnapped victims around Kirti village in Jema’a Local Government and Goza Village in Lere Local Government Area of the state.
The victims had been abducted by the bandits who later abandoned them upon sighting troops who were conducting clearance operations in the areas.
