Operatives of the Kogi State Vigilante Service (KSVS) rescued seven kidnapped victims from a forest hideout in central Nigeria on Sunday after a gun battle with their abductors.
The rescue took place in Overe Forest on Oct. 18, according to a statement issued by the service’s Public Relations Officer, Idris S. Idris, on Monday.
Personnel from the KSVS Okene Command, working with local hunters, launched the operation after acting on intelligence, the statement said.
The kidnappers, who were holding the seven captives, opened fire on seeing the operatives, triggering an exchange of gunfire. The service said its operatives’ superior firepower forced the gunmen to abandon their hostages and flee into the bush, with several of them sustaining bullet wounds.
The statement did not give the identities, ages or gender of the freed victims, nor did it say how long they had been held or whether any ransom demand had been made. It also did not report any casualties among the vigilantes or the hunters. The account could not be independently verified.
In a separate incident the same day, KSVS operatives from the Zariagi Sub-Command foiled a kidnapping attempt at about 2:12 a.m. targeting a resident of the Deeper Life camp in Zariagi, near Kabba Junction, the service said.
Operatives responded swiftly to a distress call and engaged the suspected kidnappers in a gunfight, forcing them to abandon the attempt, the statement said. No arrests were reported.
KSVS Comptroller-General Ibrahim Usman Anataku commended the operatives for their performance and urged them to maintain the momentum, according to the statement.
He also thanked Kogi State Governor Ahmed Usman Ododo for his support to the service, and appealed to members of the public to cooperate by providing timely and actionable intelligence.
Kidnapping for ransom remains a persistent security challenge in parts of Nigeria, including Kogi State, which lies in the country’s north-central region and borders several states along major transit routes. State-backed vigilante groups and local hunters frequently support the police and military in operations in forested areas.
