The Nigeria Police Force has said that a coordinated security operation across Kogi and Kwara states has led to the rescue of 309 hostages, arrest of 129 suspected terrorists, and the killing of 55 others.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this on Tuesday during an interview on Politics Today on Channels Television.
According to him, the suspects were killed during armed confrontations with security operatives, stressing that the incidents were not cases of extrajudicial killings, as they chose to engage the security operatives rather than surrender, despite the arrest of some of their associates.
“These were people who decided to fight to the end, so 55 of them were neutralised,” he stated.
Hundeyin further attributed the success recorded to “months of intelligence gathering and planning,” involving multiple security agencies.
The operation, he said, was executed by a combination of police units, including the Police Mobile Force, Intelligence Response Team, Special Intervention Squad, and the Air Wing, working in partnership with the military and other security agencies.
“This was a mix of units working together. There were ground troops mopping up the area in a coordinated manner, with constant communication between the Air Wing and officers on the ground,” Hundeyin said.
He noted that the operatives had been deployed to the area for several months, describing the terrain as difficult, heavily forested, and largely inaccessible by road, which necessitated aerial support, and added that no casualties were recorded among security operatives during the operation.
The police spokesman assured Nigerians that the operation was ongoing and would be sustained.
“In the coming days, it may not be as easy because a lot of ‘raking’ still needs to be done, but we can assure Nigerians that we are working seriously to sustain what we have started. We are taking this battle to every identified enclave of bandits and terrorists. This is just the beginning,” he said.
