The police have revealed that its operatives neutralised notorious kidnapping gangs in Abia, and also rescued five kidnapped victims in Kebbi state
Force Public Relations Officer DCP, Olumuyiwa Adejobi in a statement issued Tuesday recalled that on 27th July, 2025, a group of armed kidnappers stormed Sangara Village in Shanga Local Government Area of Kebbi state and abducted three individuals: Muhammad Namata, aged 25; Gide Namata, aged 20; and Hamidu Alhaji Namani, aged 35.
According to him, Intensifying rescue efforts, Police operatives alongside other security agencies and local vigilantes launched a coordinated search-and-rescue mission, which led them to Shanga Hills, where the kidnappers were tracked and engaged.
Adejobi added: “During the encounter, the criminals were overwhelmed in a fierce gun duel and fled into the forest with various degrees of gunshot wounds leading to the successful rescue of the three kidnapped victims.”
He noted that in a separate operation in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, on 15th August, 2025, police operatives attached to the State Command on routine patrol around Dankade Village in Ribah District encountered a group of armed bandits and engaged them in a gun duel.
Adejobi explained that two victims, Tukur Bello, aged 26, and Isyaka Abubakar, aged 25, were rescued unhurt.
He stressed that the duo were kidnapped on 9th August, 2025, while grazing their cattle in Gairi Forest, Zamfara State.
The police spokesperson noted that they have since been reunited with their families shortly.
Meanwhile, in Abia State, Adejobi revealed that Police operatives acting on credible intelligence stormed a kidnappers’ den at Umuiku Obete Village in Ukwa West LGA.
He said the criminal gang, which had been terrorising residents and commuters along Umuozo Village and Uratta Road, off Port Harcourt Road, engaged the operatives in a gun duel upon sighting them.
However, the superior firepower of the operatives proved decisive, resulting in the neutralisation of five members of the notorious gang.
Adejobi said: “A thorough search of the scene led to the recovery of six AK-47 rifles, 335 rounds of live ammunition, 14 magazines, five handsets, three cutlasses, five operational jackets, an axe, a pair of boots, one polo charm, and one double-barreled long gun.”
He added that follow-up operations are ongoing to apprehend other fleeing members of the gang.