Troops of the 12 Brigade Nigerian Army have overrun a bandits’ camp in Kogi State, rescuing two kidnap victims in a coordinated operation that also led to the arrest of a suspect and the destruction of an illegal mining site.
The operation, announced in a military operational report on Saturday, followed intelligence on the movement of injured bandits linked to criminal leaders operating along the Niger-Kwara-Kogi axis. Troops, supported by a police helicopter, intercepted fleeing bandits attempting to cross into Niger and Kwara states.
During the raid, soldiers neutralised a camp belonging to bandit leader Kachallah Babangida and cleared an illegal mining operation believed to have been funding criminal activities. Several fleeing bandits, reportedly moving with more than 30 rustled cattle, were engaged in the offensive.
Subsequent cordon-and-search operations in the Owara community and advance into Aleke village—a suspected hideout for fleeing criminals—yielded four abandoned motorcycles and the arrest of one suspect, identified as Ado Ibrahim. Farm settlements used by bandits around Aleke were also destroyed.
Two kidnap victims, Yahuza Sani and Tanimola Temidayo, escaped during an air interdiction of a bandit camp and later linked up with troops at a patrol base in Obajana. They have been evacuated for medical attention.
Military authorities have vowed to sustain operational pressure on criminal elements across affected communities, reaffirming their commitment to restoring security in the region.