Operatives of the Joint Task Force, Operation Hadarin-Daji, have rescued six female students of the Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara, abducted in the early hours of Friday.

Force information officer, Operation Hadarin-Daji, Cpt. Ibrahim Yahaya confirmed this to journalists via telephone on Friday in Gusau.

The rescue operation followed the abduction of an unspecified number of female students from their rented hostels in Sabon-Gida, a few metres away from the university.

Mr Yahaya said the troops pursued the abductors who took the students, mostly females, to the forest.

He said the troops engaged the abductors in a gun duel, supported by the air component of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), and rescued six of the students.

Mr Yahaya further stated that several bandits were neutralised during the rescue effort, which, he said, was still ongoing.

“The troops also recovered one AK-47, a magazine, four motorcycles, and one communication gadget from the terrorists,” the officer said.

The institution’s students had, in June, protested the spate of abductions of their schoolmates residing in the Sabon-Gida and Damba communities.

The two communities are opposite the university’s main campus, which is about 20km from Gusau, the state capital.

Efforts to speak with the school authorities on the incident proved abortive, as the institution’s spokesperson, Umar Usman, did not respond to several calls put through to him by a correspondent.

(NAN)