3,000 kidnapped victims freed in Zamfara – Official

The Zamfara Government has stated that it has secured the release of over 3,000 kidnapped victims from their abductors from 2019 to date.

The Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, noted this on Tuesday in Gusau while reviewing the progress of security operations in the state.

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He said the victims regained their freedom through the peace, reconciliation and dialogue programme initiated by Gov. Bello Matawalle’s administration in the past three years.

“Before Matawalle’s administration, the state faced serious security challenges, especially attacks on our communities and kidnapping.

After taking over as governor of the state, Matawalle initiated peace, reconciliation and dialogue with bandits. The dialogue yielded positive results because the state is recording relative peace,” he said.

According to Dosara, banditry activities have reduced to a minimal level across the state, adding that it witnessed nine months without recording bandits’ attacks at the initial stage of the dialogue.

He said the state government successfully rescued different groups of kidnapped victims comprising males, females and children, adding that some of them hailed from Katsina and Sokoto States.

Dosara revealed that a number of repented bandits had surrendered to the authorities while many bandits’ camps have been destroyed since the inception of the peace dialogue programme.

He said many roads, hitherto, closed due to banditry had been opened for public transportation, adding that the 14 local government areas are accessible by roads.

The government, he said, provided vehicles and other logistics to security agencies to complement their efforts toward the protection of lives and property in the state.

He urged the people of the state to cooperate with government and security agencies to end banditry and security challenges bedevilling the state. (NAN)