Security forces have rescued 16 kidnapping victims, including four children, during a search-and-rescue operation in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The victims were rescued after troops and other security personnel engaged suspected bandits in a gun battle, forcing the kidnappers to abandon their captives and flee into the surrounding area.
A video shared by John Adama Akola, the Special Adviser on Security to the Kogi State Governor, showed one of the rescued children thanking a soldier who carried her out of the forest following the operation.
The victims were reportedly kidnapped on August 9, 2026, when suspected bandits attacked three vehicles along the Ojuwo-Ajengo-Memarebo and Ojiwo-Itobe roads in Ofu Local Government Area of the state.
The Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Colonel Appolonia Anele, confirmed the rescue in a statement issued on Monday, August 10.
According to the statement, security authorities received information at about 11:30 a.m. on August 10 that the kidnapped victims had been spotted around the Adumu community in Dekina.
Acting on the intelligence, troops of the 21 Battalion, personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Lugard, and officers of the Nigeria Police, alongside local vigilantes and Hybrid Forces, launched a search-and-rescue operation in the area.
The security team eventually made contact with the suspected kidnappers, leading to an exchange of gunfire. The pressure from the security forces reportedly forced the criminals to abandon the victims before fleeing into the surrounding area.
However, the operation came with casualties. One member of the Hybrid Forces was killed during the encounter, while a police officer sustained injuries.
The 16 rescued victims comprised six males, six females and four children.
