Displaying high-level tactical precision, the Nigerian Army foils multiple kidnap plots across Imo, Cross River, and Enugu states as fleeing suspects are successfully intercepted.
Troops of the Nigerian Army have rescued four kidnapped victims, apprehended six suspected criminals, and recovered a significant amount of cash alongside operational items during separate, high-precision security operations executed across Imo, Cross River, and Enugu states.
According to an official operational update issued on Saturday from Abuja by the 82 Division/Joint Task Force South-East, code-named Operation UDO KA, the synchronized crackdowns were conducted following highly credible intelligence regarding active kidnapping rings and hostile criminal networks.
In Imo State, troops attached to the 34 Artillery Brigade at the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Izombe, working in close synergy with a local security outfit, moved swiftly to trail a gang of notorious kidnappers operating along the strategic Oguta–Owerri road in the Oguta Local Government Area.
The intense tracking led the forces deep into the Okohia Umueju forest hideout, where the criminals were fiercely engaged in a gun battle, forcing them to abandon their camp in disarray. While three captives were successfully liberated, the fleeing hoodlums killed one victim who was actively attempting to escape.
Troops recovered ₦987,500 in cash-heavily suspected to be illicit ransom proceeds—alongside five mobile devices and two power banks.
In a highly critical and related cross-border operation in Cross River State, the military successfully thwarted a daring abduction plot staged at an active election venue within the Yakurr Local Government Area.
Two separate groups of armed criminals had violently stormed a hotel in Ekori where a political party primary election was underway; while one group carted away ballot boxes on motorcycles, the second syndicate abducted an INEC Returning Officer in a Toyota Corolla and forced the official to execute an emergency mobile money transfer of ₦70,000.
Upon receiving the distress signal, tactical military units rapidly mobilized, blocked key escape routes, and successfully intercepted the getaway vehicle, leading to the immediate rescue of the INEC official and the arrest of three suspects.
Simultaneously, under Operation Eastern Sanity II in Enugu State, troops conducted a targeted intelligence-driven raid on a suspected cultist safehouse in Achi Town, within the Oji River Local Government Area, which was being used as an operational base.
The raid led to the recovery of eight operational motorcycles, two large buckets of locally manufactured gunpowder, and the immediate arrest of three suspects, including an 85-year-old man and two young women.
Reaffirming its unyielding institutional commitment to public safety, the Nigerian Army stated that the arrested suspects and recovered vehicles remain in military custody, while aggressive manhunts are actively ongoing to ensure all fleeing gang members are intercepted and brought to justice.
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