The Niger State Police Command has successfully reunited 35 kidnap survivors with their families, ending weeks of trauma and uncertainty. The group, consisting of 16 women and 19 children, had been held by abductors before being intercepted during a relocation attempt by the kidnappers.
The Commissioner of Police, Adamu Abdullahi Elleman, represented by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Investigation, Ibrahim Adamu, handed over the survivors to the Chairman of Rafi Local Government Area, Ayuba Usman Katako, in Minna, the state capital.
CP Elleman disclosed that the operation began on July 3, following credible intelligence that the bandits were relocating their captives from Birnin-Gwari to other regions and security operatives mobilized and intercepted multiple groups of victims attempting to cross into New-Bussa through Agwara.
He said the first group made up of five women and six children was rescued in Agwara while further operations led to the interception of another group along the Mekujeri-Tegina road, consisting of four women and seven children.
The Commissioner said the third group was found being transported by a driver, Yusuf Abdullahi of Birnin-Gwari, who is currently under investigation by the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to determine his involvement with the kidnappers.
He said the victims were placed under police protection, where they received food, bedding, psychological counselling, and deradicalization support provided in partnership with the state government.
The Niger State Ministries of Humanitarian Affairs and Women Affairs have also trained 40 government officials, security agents, and service providers on ways to tackle stigmatization against the kidnapped women.
The one-day event was in collaboration with the Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) and the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN), with support from the Ford Foundation, under the “Muslim Opinion Leaders for the Prevention of Gender-Based Violence in Northern Nigeria” project.
The State Amira of the Federation of Muslim Women’s Associations of Nigeria (FOMWAN), Hajiya Hauwa Kulu Abdullahi, charged service providers, security agents, and government officials to open their minds, show love and empathy and be ready to rid society of the menace of stigmatizing survivors of kidnap.
Malam Hassan Aliyu Karofi, the Director of Partnership and Communication at the Development Research and Projects Centre, explained that the training was initiated following the rescue of 27 women who had spent an extended period in captivity and came back with pregnancies and children.
