The Kaduna Police Command has stated that it rescued 76 kidnapped travelers along the Funtua-Zaria Road in the Gulbala area of the State’s Giwa Local Government Area with the assistance of the military.
According to DSP Mohammed Jalige, the Command’s Public Relations Officer, the victims were rescued on Friday following a report from the Police Divisional Headquarters in Giwa LGA.
He stated that the command received a report of scores of armed bandits blocking the road and abducting scores of passengers to their hidden location.
He explained that the command dispatched security personnel, including the military, to the location, where they discovered an empty vehicle – a Ford open truck with the registration number APP 667 XG, which was said to have carried the kidnapped passengers.
It said the troops further dismantled all road blocks, engaged the armed bandits and successfully rescued all the 76 victims.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the victims who were passengers on the truck were travelling from Sabon Birni LGA of Sokoto State en-route to different destinations when they were intercepted by the marauders,” he said.
According to him, the security operatives were still on operation within the general area in search of the main truck driver and two other passengers who are yet to be accounted for.
The Commissioner of Police, Yekini Ayoku, who expressed delight over the synergy between security operatives in the State, attributed the success to gallant efforts of the police and the army, just as he assured the public of continuous success against bandits and other criminals in the State.