Nigeria rescues more than 300 kidnapping victims in major operation

The Nigerian government announced the release of more than 300 kidnapping victims Wednesday, including 163 taken from a single village in the west of the country earlier this year. Kidnapping for ransom by criminal groups, jihadists and non-ideological gangs known as bandits has become a major crisis in Nigeria, especially areas with little state presence in the north and centre of the country. In February, suspected jihadists attacked the village of Woro, Kwara state, near the border with Benin, killing more than 150 people and kidnapping roughly the same amount. "President Bola Ahmed Tinubu warmly welcomes the successful rescue of 308 Nigerian citizens who were abducted in different attacks in Niger and Kwara states," presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga said. He added that 163 were from Woro and 145 from Niger State. The victims were rescued from a location in the Kainji Lake National Park Forest. Sprawling, often sparsely governed forests and reserves across the country have turned into hideouts for Nigerian criminal groups. It was "the largest rescue operation ever carried out" in a single day, Onanuga said, in an operation that involving the National Counter-Terrorism Centre, ...