Military rescues 6 Gusau varsity female students after bandits’ invasion
Operatives of the Joint Task Force, Operation Hadarin-Daji have rescued six of the 24 students of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State kidnapped in the early hours of Friday (today)
Force Information Officer, Operation Hadarin-Daji, Captain Ibrahim Yahaya, confirmed this to the newsmen on Friday in Gusau.
He said the Brigade Commander, Brigadier General Sani Ahmed is currently leading the operation with other security agencies in the forest along Tsafe Local Government Area (LGA) of the state.
He also confirmed that several bandits were neutralised during the ongoing operation with some weapons recovered.
The rescue operation followed the abduction of an unspecified number of female students from their off-campus hostels at Sabon-Gida, few meters away from the university.
A resident of Sabon-Gida identified as Nazeer Sabon-Gida also confirmed that the gunmen invaded the community around 3 am and started shooting indiscriminately.
Three students’ hostels were attacked and all the students in the hostels were taken away by the bandits.
Yahaya said that the troops pursued the abductors who took the students, mostly females, to the forest.
He said that the troops engaged the abductors in a gun duel, supported by the air component of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), and rescued six of the students.
Yahaya further stated that several bandits were neutralised during the rescue effort which, he said, was still ongoing.
“The troops also recovered one AK-47, a magazine, four motorcycles and one communication gadget from the terrorists,” the officer said.
The students had, in June, protested the spate of abductions of their schoolmates residing in Sabon-Gida and Damba communities.
The two communities are opposite the main campus of the university, which is about 20km from Gusau, the state capital.