ABUJA, Nigeria – In a landmark operation described as unprecedented in the nation’s history, Nigerian security forces have rescued at least 308 people abducted in a series of separate attacks across the country’s northern region, President Bola Tinubu announced Wednesday in an official statement.
Among the freed hostages are 163 residents taken captive from the Woro community in Kaiama, Kwara State, during a mass kidnapping in February. An additional 145 people, most seized from neighboring Niger State, were also released in the coordinated mission. Tinubu confirmed that all hostages were extracted from a remote forest hideout where they had been held for months in captivity. Few operational details have been made public to protect ongoing security work, but the president noted that all rescued people are currently receiving on-site medical evaluations and care for their ordeal.
Tinubu labeled the mission the “largest rescue operation ever” conducted by Nigerian security forces in a single 24-hour period. He emphasized that the successful outcome was rooted in precise intelligence gathering and close inter-agency collaboration, a combination that has sharply boosted the effectiveness of the country’s security response to kidnapping threats. “The successful execution of this intelligence-led operation demonstrates the growing efficiency and collaboration among our security services,” Tinubu said. “I commend our gallant men and women in uniform for their bravery and unwavering commitment to safeguarding Nigerian lives.”
The large-scale rescue comes amid a years-long crisis of mass abductions and ransom kidnappings across northern Nigeria. Armed groups locally referred to as bandits have expanded their control of remote border and forest regions in northwest and north-central Nigeria, launching regular raids on rural communities and schools to seize hostages for ransom. Security analysts note that many of these bandit formations emerged from long-simmering resource conflicts between pastoral herder communities and sedentary farming groups, with many former herders turning to armed violence after repeated cycles of displacement and confrontation.
Mass school kidnappings have become a particularly common tactic for these groups, who use the public outrage over captive children to pressure the federal and state governments and extract large ransom payments. In addition to the bandit insurgency in the northwest and north-central regions, Nigeria has also grappled with a separate 13-year-old extremist insurgency in the country’s northeast that has displaced millions and left thousands dead. Recent United Nations security assessments have warned that armed kidnapping groups are increasingly expanding their operations southward, seizing more young hostages and extending their influence beyond northern strongholds.