Nigerian forces have freed 308 people abducted in Niger and Kwara states from forests in Kainji Lake National Park, an operation officials call the country's largest single-day hostage recovery, as the ransom-kidnapping wave continues.
Armed groups and bandits in Nigeria abduct civilians in large numbers and hold them for ransom, often in remote forest areas. Nigerian security forces are pitted against these groups in a crisis that Al Jazeera describes as one of the country's major problems.
Nigerian security forces rescued 308 people who had been abducted in separate attacks in Niger and Kwara states, Al Jazeera reported on Friday. The Guardian reported that the captives were held in the forests of Kainji Lake National Park and that the president hailed what officials called the largest single-day recovery of hostages in the country.
Nigerian authorities announced the rescue of 308 kidnapped citizens held in the forest of Kainji Lake National Park. Kidnapping for ransom by armed groups and bandits has become a major crisis in the country, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday.