21 people were freed from the hands of their captors, who were later identified as a local militia group, thanks to Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS), a military operation carried out in the states of Benue, Nasarawa, and Taraba.
Flight Lieutenant Audu Katty, the OPWS’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), made this announcement in a statement on Thursday in Makurdi, the organization’s operational headquarters.
Katty stated that on Tuesday, OPWS personnel in Taraba State’s Wukari Local Government Area (LGA) saved 20 of the victims who were commuters from the Kente-Chinkai road.
He continued by saying that while pursuing the group that had earlier kidnapped the commuters, a local who had been wounded by a machete was also saved.
The local, who was severely injured, was reportedly transferred to the primary healthcare facility in Kente for treatment, according to an OPWS official.
According to Katty, “On December 6, 2022, the brave soldiers of Operation Whirl Stroke mobilized and proceeded to the scene in response to distress calls on the activities of a local militia along Kente-Chinkai Road in Wukari LGA of Taraba State.
“The local militia, who were numerous and clad in full military garb, abandoned their prisoners and ran into the jungle as the forces approached.
He claimed that the military freed all 20 hostages—the captives who were being held—from their captors.
“Troops further into the woods and found an unnamed native who had been injured on his head by a machete. After being saved, the patient was brought to Kente Primary Health Care for treatment.
He claimed that after that, the troops began a manhunt for the militia and pursued them to their hiding place.
He said: “We got in touch with them. In response, troops outgunned the militia, causing them to escape in confusion while possibly suffering gunshot wounds.
Along with requesting “the cooperation of the people to continue delivering timely information on the activities of criminals,” Katty emphasized that Operation Whirl Stroke will continue “to defend the lives of innocent citizens across the region of its duty.”
