Forces from the 3 Division and Operation Safe Haven have accomplished significant success in their continuous mission to maintain peace and safety throughout the Joint Operations Area (JOA), encompassing Plateau, Taraba, and Kaduna States.
A statement released by the Military Information Officer, Maj. Samson Nantip Zhakom, on Thursday emphasized the considerable advancements achieved by the troops in their intensified kinetic and non-kinetic activities along the Plateau-Taraba borders, especially in the Bangalala and Kinishi Forests, covering the Wase and Karim Lamido Local Government Areas (LGAs).
According to Zagazola Makama, a security expert and counter-terrorism specialist in the Lake Chad Region, the operations have resulted in the removal of numerous bandits, the demolition of criminal hideouts, and the rescue of 18 kidnapped individuals, who have since been reunited with their families after appropriate documentation.
In Tarangol, Bokkos LGA, Sector 5 forces captured five bandits, seizing three homemade rifles, ammunition, and knives. Five additional bandits were caught in Jannaret, Mangu LGA, along with a counterfeit rifle and various other items. Moreover, a infamous kidnapping mastermind was apprehended in Jebbu Village, Bassa LGA, and admitted to planning numerous abductions throughout Plateau State. A gunrunner was apprehended in Kanam LGA, and inquiries are continuing to locate his accomplices.
In other recent actions, Sector 5 forces apprehended a member of a gunrunning network in Bokkos LGA, confiscating fake pistols and ammunition. In Kafanchan, Kaduna State, Sector 7 soldiers captured two gunrunners along with extra weapons, while in Sanga LGA, Kaduna State, troops prevented a kidnapping attempt, detaining four suspects and seizing a Dane gun.
In Bokkos LGA, soldiers eliminated a suspected abductor and detained an accomplice posing as a POS attendant. During the operation, a ransom amount of N200,000 was also seized.
