Nigeria: More than 300 kidnapping victims rescued in major operation

Nigeria said more than 300 people abducted in separate attacks have been rescued in a joint intelligence and security operation.

In a statement on Wednesday, the country’s presidency said 163 of them were kidnapped in February from Woro village in Kwara State, while the 145 others were taken from Niger State.

They were rescued from a location in the Kainji Lake National Park Forest and it is it not yet clear whether any suspects were detained during the one-day operation.

It was carried out by the National Counter Terrorism Centre, involving members of the army, the police force, and the Department of State Services.

The people rescued are reportedly receiving medical care at a military site before being reunited with their families.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu welcomed their liberation, describing the operation as a sign of improved coordination among security agencies.

Kidnapping for ransom by criminal groups, Boko Haram-linked fighters, and gangs known as bandits is a major problem in Nigeria, especially in areas with little state presence.

Suspected jihadists went on a rampage in Woro earlier this year after they had sent a letter to the village announcing their intention to preach, only to have no-one show up.

In apparent retaliation, they burned houses and killed upwards of 165 people and kidnapped an unknown number, residents said at the time, though local authorities gave a lower toll.

Media reports had put the number of those kidnapped at 176, though as recently as Friday the police in Kwara state said that number was unsubstantiated.

Large parts of the village had been reduced to piles of ash and rubble in the assault.

Tinubu at the time condemned what he called a "beastly attack", deploying an army battalion to the troubled region and blaming Islamist movement Boko Haram - though the name is often used generically for jihadist groups in Nigeria.

A few months before, the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) claimed its first attack on Nigerian soil in the state, near Woro.

Over the weekend, gunmen kidnapped at least 52 people, including children, in an attack on a village and military base in north-west Nigeria's Zamfara state.