National Security Adviser Welcomes 22 Rescued Students, Staff Of Zamfara University

The National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu on Monday welcomed 22 students and staff members, who were kidnapped in September from Zamfara's Federal University Gusau.

These abducted victims -- including 15 students and seven workers of the university -- were rescued Sunday.

Ribadu said that the rescue operation was coordinated by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and security agents near Kuncin Dutse, a village in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara.

The NSA, who met the rescued victims in Abuja, encouraged them not to let their experience weaken them but urged them to become stronger because of it. He also appreciated the parents of the rescued victims for being patient and understanding during this time.

He also praised the security agencies for their hard work and sacrifices in rescuing the victims.

"On behalf of the President, I thank all those involved in the successful rescue of the victims without losing anyone of them or paying any ransom," Ribadu said, Premium Times reported. "This is yet again a success story in our efforts to free all those being unlawfully held in captivity."

He added, "We have so far released over a thousand of such victims without noise and in complete respect to their privacy and safety. This occasion marks a final juncture in a series of rescues we have undertaken in the last few months, to free victims of recent cases of mass abductions."

However, going forward, the NSA assured that the government has strengthened law enforcement and security measures to prevent such abductions and strengthen physical security across vulnerable communities.

NCTC's national coordinator Adamu Laka recalled that the rescued individuals were kidnapped from the school on Sept. 22 last year around 2:30 a.m. He noted that the gunmen entered three off-campus hostels of students and kidnapped many female students and a few males.

Laka noted that the bandits took the abductees on motorcycles and foot to an unknown location. "Search and rescue was conducted by a combined team of law enforcement agencies and the abductees were subsequently released in three batches, after 207 days in captivity," he said.

He confirmed that none of the females were molested and all of them tested negative for pregnancy. However, four of them had been diagnosed with malaria and three others had sustained some bruises.