Ten years after their abduction, a total of 386 persons, mostly women and children, have been rescued by the Nigerian Army in Sambisa Forest in Borno State .
The Acting GOC 7 Division, Brig.-Gen. Abubakar Haruna made this known while speaking to Journalists at the outskirts of Sambisa Forest in Konduga local government area after welcoming the troops that conducted the 10-day operation.
Haruna said that the operation tagged, “Operation Desert Sanity 111” was to clear Sambisa Forest of the remnants of all categories of terrorists as well as provide those willing to surrender an opportunity to do so.
“Our effort is to ensure that we clear remnants of terrorists in the Sambisa and give those willing to surrender the opportunity to surrender. With this operation, we envisage many of them will surrender as they have started.
“We also rescued some civilians; as of yesterday, we rescued 386 and I am sure the number will increase by today,” Haruna said.
The GOC, who addressed the troops on the message of Chief of Army Staff, lauding their performance, and the professionalism they exhibited during the operation, and urged them to sustain the tempo.
Some of those rescued who spoke to newsmen said they were in captivity for the past 10 years.
