Nigeria arrests over 2,000 suspected militants after kidnapping wave

More than 2,000 suspected militants were rounded up by the Nigerian government troops at the weekend in the oil-rich, but violent oil city of Port Harcourt, the capital of Nigeria’s southern state of Rivers, local newspaper This Day reported on Sunday.

The Joint Task Force, made up of Police, Army, Navy and Airforce, raided suspected hideouts of militants in a joint operation that started on Friday night and ended in the early hours of Saturday, recovering items, including guns, ammunitions and explosives.

Major Sagir Musa, the Army Public Relations Officer of the Amphibious Brigade in Port Harcourt, confirmed the raid, saying they found out that those who have been committing crimes had their hideouts in the raided areas of Iloabuchi, Diobu and the notorious Njemanze streets.

“Following security reports that those behind most of the militant activities, robbery and other such criminal activities are residing in Diobu, a Joint Task Force decided to do what we call ‘Cordon and Search’,” he said.

People’s Daily Online