Barely three days after abducted students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State, were rescued, another 84 kidnapped school children have been freed by Troops of Operation Hadarin Daji in collaboration with Police and local vigilante deployed at Dandume Local Government Area of the State.
The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, who disclosed this in a statement yesterday in Abuja, said the kidnap attempt was foiled following distress calls by locals.
According to him “Troops of Operation Hadarin Daji in collaboration with Police and local vigilante deployed at Dandume LGA of Katsina State received a distress call at about 11:30 PM on 19 December 2020 from locals at Mahuta village that suspected bandits were moving with unconfirmed numbers of Islamiya children mostly girls and rustled cattle.
“The children were returning from Maulud programme at Unguwar Al- Kasim village at Dandume.
“In reaction to the distress call, troops quickly mobilized to the scene, laid ambush and blocked bandits’ route along Daudawa-Kadisau and road Sheme Mairuwa and Unguwar Audu village.
According to him “While patiently waiting for the bandits at the ambush and blocking position, troops established contact with bandits and engaged them.
Enenche said, during the fierce battle, troops superior fire power forced bandits to abandon the children and the rustled cattle thereby forcing the bandits to flee in disarray into the forest.
“Troops thereafter, searched the general area and rescued the 39 kidnapped girls in addition to the recovery of 8 rustled cattle. The victims have been reunited with their families while the recovered cattle handed to the owners.
He noted that the troops has also dominated the general area with aggressive patrol to forestall further occurrence.
“The Military High Command commends the gallant troops and other security agencies for their sustained successes. Equally the locals and vigilantes are hereby appreciated for the cooperation in tackling the insecurity in Katsina State.”