Photo caption: Minister welcomes freed journalists, commends security agencies
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has welcomed the release of two Kaduna-based journalists who were abducted from their homes on the outskirts of Kaduna last weekend.
Two journalists, Abdulgafar Alabelewe from The Nation newspaper and AbdulRaheem Aodu from Blueprint newspaper, along with their wives and children, were released by bandits on Saturday night.
The bandits, in significant numbers, had invaded their Dahono Community in the Millennium City area of Chikun Local Government Area.
Alabelewe also serves as the current chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists in Kaduna State.
In a statement issued on Sunday by the minister’s Special Assistant on Media, Rabiu Ibrahim, Idris praised security agencies for the swift recovery of the kidnapped victims while receiving them from the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
Mohammed expressed sympathy to the two families and encouraged Nigerians to maintain trust in President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the security agencies.
The statement read, “We are most grateful for what you have done. We are aware that this is part of your ongoing effort to ensure that all kidnapped victims are rescued alive and reunited with their families.
“I want to urge Nigerians to keep faith with the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and our security agencies. The security agencies under the coordination of the NSA are working tirelessly to ensure that all those who have been taken into unlawful custody are freed without paying any ransom.”
Earlier, the NSA stated in the release that the five victims were rescued due to a coordinated effort by security agencies, resulting in a swift search and rescue operation.
“Responding, one of the rescued victims, Alabelewe thanked the NSA and his team for the swift intervention.
“The rescue mission which brought us out of the bush yesterday gave us hope in our country and gave us confidence to believe that the government is serious about tackling this problem of kidnapping. I never thought that within a week of our kidnap, we could get out.
“We are grateful that the government swung into action and ensured that we were released,” the statement concluded.
