11th August, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Nigerian troops on Friday rescued a former Provost of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Gusau, Dr. Hassan Abubakar Augie and his son during gun-battle with bandits in Zamfara.
A statement on the Army headquarters’ Facebook page said on the 11th of August 2023, Troops of Sector 1 Operation Hadarin Daji deployed at Forward Operating Base Mada in Zamfara state while on routine patrol along Shemori – Yandoto road at Marke general area encountered an unspecified number of armed bandits.
The army said the troops engaged the bandits in a fierce fight for several hours, and that due to the troops’ fire superiority, the bandits fled in disarray into forest along the area.
“The OPHD troops immediately went in hot pursuit of the bandits into the forest which forced them to abandon two civilians who were rescued from the bandits unhurt and recovered 2 operational motorcycles of the fleeing bandits.
“During an interview with the rescued persons, they were identified as Dr Hassan Abubakar Augie, a former Provost Federal College of Education (Technical) Gusau and his son,” the statement said.
The army added that preliminary investigation revealed that the abductees were abducted by armed bandits late last night from his residence and were taken into the forest before the timely arrival of troops who rescued them.
“Accordingly, the duo victims have been reunited with their families amidst jubilation while the troops maintained aggressive vigilance and patrol in the general area,” it said.