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It’s a remarkable operation – Zulum
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From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The military has rescued 360 people, mostly women, children and men, from terrorists’ captivity three months after their abduction by suspected Boko Haram members in a town in Borno State.
The 360 people, who were among nearly 400 civilians kidnapped by the terrorist group on March 4 after a bloody attack on Ngoshe in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State and the seizure of the town, were freed on Saturday, June 6, in an operation described by the military as one of the most significant hostage rescue missions in the North-East.
Acting spokesman of the Joint Task Force North-East, Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), Lt Col Haruna Sani, in a statement on Sunday, said the operation was a culmination of weeks of intelligence development, collaboration and monitoring of the terrorists’ activities in their enclave located within the Mandara Mountains near the Cameroon border.
“The operation, which was the culmination of weeks of painstaking intelligence preparation, covert reconnaissance, and operational planning, resulted in the safe recovery of men, women, and children who had been held in captivity under harsh conditions after being abducted from several communities, particularly within the Ngoshe axis,” Sani revealed in the statement.
He said the operation was initiated following the receipt of credible intelligence about the terrorists’ location, support network for sustaining their enclave, and their disposition.
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The initial information received, according to the spokesman, helped the OPHK intelligence elements to launch “an extensive target development process” involving combinations of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT).
He said Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations were conducted through unmanned aerial systems and long-range reconnaissance patrols.
“Through sustained intelligence collection and analysis, commanders developed a comprehensive understanding of the terrain, insurgent disposition, defensive arrangements, movement patterns, and the condition of the abductees. This intelligence-driven approach enabled the force to accurately map the objective area, identify vulnerabilities within the terrorist network, and significantly reduce risks to the hostages during the rescue mission,” he explained.
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum commended the military. He described the rescue operation as a remarkable demonstration of courage, professionalism, and the growing effectiveness of intelligence-led military efforts in ending terrorists’ activities in the North-East.
“The rescue of 360 abductees from the Boko Haram stronghold is a significant achievement. It underscores the effectiveness of inter-agency collaboration and the determination of our security forces to ensure that no citizen is abandoned in the hands of insurgents and terrorists,” the governor said through a statement by his media aide, Malam Dauda Iliya.
Zulum had visited the Ngoshe residents taking refuge at Pulka, a nearby town, on March 6, two days after their displacement by Boko Haram and the abduction of about 400 people. The terrorists also killed dozens of residents and seized the town until the military recaptured it two weeks later.
The military earlier announced that two of the abductees, a woman identified as Maryam Muhammad and an infant, escaped from the terrorists’ camp last week.
