BREAKING: Troops free 27 kidnap victims in Benue

Troops of the Nigerian Army have rescued 27 kidnapped passengers in Amoda community, Ohimini Local Government Area of Benue State, following a decisive raid on the hideout of their abductors.

The operation, carried out by soldiers under Operation Whirl Stroke, saw the kidnappers overpowered and the victims safely released without casualties.

Military authorities explained that the rescue forms part of ongoing nationwide security operations, which in the past week resulted in the elimination of 15 terrorists, arrest of 42 suspects, and liberation of 30 other hostages across different regions.

In the North East, troops clashed with Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters in Dikwa, Gwoza, Bama, Banki, and Gujba, killing 15 insurgents and seizing assorted weapons, grenades, explosives, motorcycles, and communication devices.

Elsewhere, security operatives apprehended 15 individuals for drug trafficking in Kaduna, arrested 25 others for oil theft in Bayelsa, and picked up two suspects in Delta. Illegal crude oil refining sites were also dismantled in Imo, Rivers, and Delta states.