Niger govt rescues 10 abductees from bandits

By Correspondent in Minna

Ten out of the 21 travellers on the state-owned NSTA, abducted in Kundu via Yakila in Rafi Local Government Area of the state by suspected armed bandits have been rescued, courtesy of the Niger state government.

Tge Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Alhaji Mohammad Sani Idris, disclosed this while giving update on efforts being made to rescue the victims.

The Commissioner further disclosed to journalists in an interview with journalists at the Minna General Hospital where three of the rescued victims were taken for examination, to determine their health conditions.

He said, ” Immediately after the incident, the state government went after the armed men to rescue the victims and they were rescued through multiply strategies and I assure you that the Governor Abubakar Sani Bello- led administration will not rest until the rest of the victims are rescued”.

The Commissioner denied payment of N50 million ransom by the state government in exchange for the victims, adding however that the strategies deployed to ensure their release could not be revealed.

‘If ransom was paid, all of the kidnapped victims would have been released by the abductors,” he added.

While expressing optimism that all the 21 abducted travellers would regain their freedom alive, the commissioner sympathized with the families of the victims.

The Reporters gathered the Governor Bello deployed strategies in collaboration with neighbouring states in the fight against the bandits and other criminal elements in the state, considering the Niger state position in the North-Central region.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of the Hospital, Dr. Ma-ali Isah, said three of the victims: two adults and a child, were brought for examination and “we confirmed that they are in stable health condition.”

He further said, “Three of the kidnapped victims were brought to us this afternoon, two adults and a child. They have been examined and they are in a stable condition.”