The police have rescued two kidnap victims following a gun battle with bandits in Ribah District in the Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
The command spokesperson, Nafi’u Abubakar, disclosed this in a statement released in Birnin Kebbi on Saturday.
Mr Abubakar said the operation took place on 15 August, when a team of police officers, vigilantes and local hunters clashed with the bandits near Dankade village for several hours.
Two men, identified as 26-year-old Tukur Bello from Augie LGA in Kebbi and 25-year-old Isyaka Abubakar from Gummi LGA in neighbouring Zamfara State, were freed during the fight. They had been abducted six days earlier while grazing cattle in Gairi forest, Zamfara.
The police said both men were taken to the hospital for medical checks before being reunited with their families.
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Kebbi State Police Commissioner, Bello Sani, praised the “determination, resilience and professionalism” of the Ribah divisional police officer and his team, urging other DPOs to adopt similar aggressive patrols and “visibility policing” along highways and in nearby bushland.
Communities in Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto and Katsina States have been particularly affected, with thousands displaced by the menace of banditry.
Despite repeated military operations and police crackdowns, the armed groups remain resilient, exploiting difficult terrain and weak state presence in rural areas.