Nigerian troops freed more than 70 kidnap victims and seized a wanted terror kingpin in Mokwa town during coordinated nationwide raids this past week. Major General Michael Onoja confirmed on Sunday that soldiers also recovered 10 million naira in extortion cash following a sweep through Kano’s Falgore forest. Forest hideouts offer dwindling safety. The operations show an armed force running hard just to keep pace with an aggressive kidnapping trade.
Soldiers in Katsina State engaged armed bandits in Sabuwa, pulling 27 villagers from captivity after a firefight in Gamji community. Another squad in Niger State shielded 29 farmers who fled into the bush when raiders assaulted Magaji Mai Kadarko village. Rural agriculture remains perilous work. Even with tactical successes on the ground, gunmen killed a local farmer before army units arrived.
In the eastern forests, intelligence units tracked a criminal network to Yan Taburmi, where soldiers killed two suspects and returned paid ransom cash to a victim’s family. A parallel raid in Mokwa netted an elusive syndicate boss alongside cash and communications gear. Cash lines sustain bandit networks. Cutting off ransom payments remains the surest method to break these forest gangs.
Troops from Operation Udo Ka moved into Imo State to arrest five syndicate members linked to the mass abduction of 20 prospective youth corps members. Recruits travel on dangerous roads. The arrests yielded three assault rifles and ammunition, showing how deeply illicit arms flow into highway kidnapping gangs across southern transport corridors.
Northern operations recorded similar attrition among Islamist insurgents as 19 fighters and relatives surrendered in Borno State. The defectors cited chronic starvation and deadly factional fighting rather than sudden ideological remorse. Hunger breaks insurgent ranks. Desertions rise whenever military pressure chokes off food supply routes into remote camps.
Chief of Defence Staff General Olufemi Oluyede commended the field units while urging officers to observe strict rules of engagement. Nigeria cannot secure its rural interior through occasional tactical rescues alone. Security requires permanent territorial control. Until state authorities hold rural roads and rural bush paths, kidnapping gangs will merely regroup in the nearest thicket.