Nigeria’s military says its forces have increased pressure on armed groups responsible for the abduction of schoolchildren in the country’s north, destroying terrorist hideouts and pursuing kidnappers across vast forest corridors.
A senior army source confirmed to NAN that units operating under Operation FANSAN YAMMA have eliminated several militants over the past day and are expanding search-and-rescue efforts in Niger, Kebbi and Zamfara States.
Troops from 22 Brigade were deployed after students were abducted from St Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State. Reconnaissance aircraft and ground patrols have been tracking the kidnappers’ movements, with the operation now pushed into the Audu Fari axis in Borgu Local Government Area.
Meanwhile, forces stationed at Gulbin Boka in Mariga ambushed armed fighters as they attempted to regroup near Magaman Daji. The clash resulted in casualties among the militants and the seizure of four motorbikes used by the group.
In Kebbi State, soldiers searching for pupils kidnapped from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Maga, launched a major offensive in the Gando-Sunke forest belt and neighbouring Talata Mafara district in Zamfara State. Three bases were destroyed, forcing the gunmen to flee. Troops also recovered a missing international passport belonging to a woman from Bagega.
The army source pledged that the campaign would continue “until every abducted student is safely found and the criminal networks operating in the North West and North Central are dismantled.”
