Police free 29 hostages and arrest 48 suspects in Nigeria
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Pmnewsnigeria
Police in Nigeria’s Benue State freed 29 kidnapped people, arrested 48 suspects, including 34 foreign nationals, and recovered seven locally made firearms. Operations in October included the rescue of 21 hostages in Logo communities, according to Commissioner Cletus Nwadiogbu.
Police in Benue State, Nigeria, said they had freed 29 kidnapped people, arrested 48 suspects and recovered seven locally made firearms. State Police Commissioner Cletus Nwadiogbu presented the figures for operations carried out in October on Tuesday in Makurdi, Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports.
Those rescued included four passengers kidnapped on 5 October when a commercial vehicle was attacked on the Uzer–Ayilamo-Tse-Abi road in Logo area. The driver was killed. Seventeen farmers kidnapped in the villages of Tse-Acha and Tse-Wuam were freed on 7 October, while eight people, including a priest, were rescued after being kidnapped on 13 October in Ohimini area. The last six were freed on 18 October, according to the commissioner.
The operations also led to the arrest of 34 foreign nationals: 16 Cameroonians arrested in Otukpo on 9 October and 18 Nigeriens intercepted in Orokam on 22 October. The Nigerian Immigration Service is to verify their status and documents, Nwadiogbu said.
The tally also includes the killing of a suspected bandit and the recovery of 16 cartridges and rounds of ammunition. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the kidnapping of the eight people in Ohimini, who were taken to Otukpo University of Health Sciences Teaching Hospital for examination and treatment.
Police had already announced the arrest of the 34 Cameroonians and Nigeriens in Benue on 27 October, as part of the operations detailed by the commissioner. The tally of rescues adds to this announcement of arrests in Benue.
