On Wednesday, the Kaduna State Government said that two dead bodies believed to have been slaughtered by bandits had been found by Nigerian Army personnel.
In a statement on Wednesday, Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State, stated that the army had also freed three hostages and demolished bandit camps in the Chikun-Kachia-Kajuru forests.
He claimed that the Army's operational feedback showed that the troops had engaged bandits in the area of Kwanti, Chikun LGA, and that as they fled into the forest, they left behind four motorcycles that the troops were able to recover.
He claimed that the forces recovered the bodies of two male kidnapping victims named Muntaka Abubakar and Nwabueze John as well as the corpses of two unnamed female victims who had been murdered by the bandits.
He claimed that after first aid was given to one of the injured victims, the rescued victims were reunited with their family.
The 85-year-old victim Tabawa Laraba was rescued by the army in the general vicinity of Kuzo and was then checked and debriefed before being reunited with her family, he continued.
He acknowledged that "the troops expanded fighting patrols to Abrom, Gabachuwa, and Kujeni forest areas spanning Kajuru, Chikun, and Kachia LGAs."
He claimed that as the troops moved further, they confronted bandits who had fled into the surrounding bush, uprooted their camps, and found two damaged AK-47 weapons, three phones, some military uniforms, and explosive-making supplies.