Troops operating under Operation Fansan Yamma, the Joint Task Force for Nigeria’s North West region, carried out a series of operations over the past week that freed kidnap victims, blocked a planned attack on a village, and led to several arrests, according to a statement issued Sunday by the task force’s media information officer, Lieutenant Colonel Aliyu Danja.
On June 18, soldiers from Sector 1 of the task force responded to reports of armed bandits moving through forest land near Kerawa, in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State. As troops swept the area, the gunmen fled and left behind three captives: Bilkisu Hayatu, 38; Habibah Sadisu, 30; and a one-year-old boy, Abdulmutallib Sadisu.
The three were taken to a health clinic in Kadage for treatment. The military said the victims had been abducted more than a month earlier, on May 17, from Kajenjere Tami village in Birnin Yero, and were being moved toward a bandit camp in Birnin Gwari when troops intercepted them.
Two days later, on June 20, troops from Sector 2 worked with other security agencies to stop an attack being planned on Gamdanda village in Gummi Local Government Area of Zamfara State. Acting on intelligence, soldiers set up an ambush on the edge of the community and opened fire on the approaching attackers, who scattered.
A search of the area afterwards turned up weapons, ammunition, eight motorcycles, and food supplies.
In a separate operation, soldiers working alongside the Defence Intelligence Agency carried out a covert raid in Zamfara that led to the arrest of four people suspected of extremist activity or of acting as informants for armed groups. Investigators also recovered unspecified incriminating materials.
A fifth suspect, identified as Muhammad Mamman, was detained separately after giving the military what it described as inconsistent answers about his identity and activities. He remains in custody pending further investigation.
The task force also reported a firefight in Maru Local Government Area, where troops came under attack before reinforcements arrived from 1 Brigade.
The military said the attackers suffered heavy losses, citing blood trails left along their retreat, but three soldiers were killed in the exchange.
In Bakura Local Government Area, troops intercepted a group of armed men riding motorcycles toward Tudun Barade and Badamma villages and forced them to retreat before they could strike.
The task force’s theatre commander praised the troops involved and paid tribute to the soldiers killed in Maru, while pledging that operations against armed groups in the region would continue.
He also thanked residents for providing intelligence to security forces and urged communities to keep cooperating with the military. #Securitynewsalert.com
