SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, (THEWILL) – The Joint Task Force (JTF) deployed to the Niger Delta on Wednesday said its troops had rescued two kidnap victims in an operation conducted at Brass and Ekeremor local government areas of Bayelsa.
This was disclosed by Real Admiral Suleman Apochi, Commander of JTF, in a chat with newsmen in Yenagoa adding that the troops recovered a cache of arms and ammunition in the rescue operation carried out at the militants camps.
He, however, said that one of the victims held hostage by the kidnappers sustained gunshot wounds during a shootout with the kidnappers, who later abandoned their camps “due to the superior firepower of the troops.”
“The troops rescued the injured victim and is receiving medical attention at a medical facility and now in a stable condition.”
One of the freed victims, Sulaiman Yinusa, told newsmen that he was kidnapped at Abonima in Rivers while returning from a business trip from Aba. He said he was held hostage at the militants’ camp in Bayelsa for 50 days.
“I remain eternally grateful to God for my rescue by the joint military force, it was God’s making. They had killed many hostages before two of us were freed, especially those that their relations could not pay the ransom demanded,” he revealed.
“They had demanded N10 million and my people cannot even raise N1 million, they negotiated ransom down to N100, 000, but my people could not raise the money.
“They had told me that I will be killed today, Wednesday, but God intervened, I thank Him, and I am so proud of Nigerian military.”
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