Operatives of the Katsina State Police Command have foiled a highway kidnapping attempt, rescuing nine passengers after a fierce gun battle with armed bandits along the Katsina-Kankara highway.

The command confirmed that an intensive search-and-rescue operation is actively underway to locate two remaining individuals who are still missing.

The operational details were released in a statement on Saturday by the Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu.

The incident occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. when a heavily armed group of bandits barricaded a section of the Katsina-Kankara Road at Tashar Kanya Village, located within the Kankara Local Government Area.

The gunmen intercepted a red commercial Volkswagen Golf III saloon car (registration number KMC 400 MK) that was traveling from Dandume toward Katsina. The vehicle was conveying 11 passengers when the attackers forced it to a halt and abducted all the occupants, attempting to march them into the surrounding forest.

Upon receiving an urgent distress report, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) for Kankara mobilized a tactical reinforcement team, comprising local division officers and specialized personnel from the Violent Crime Rescue Unit (VCRU), and stormed the scene.

On sighting the arriving security forces, the bandits opened fire, triggering a fierce shootout. According to the police command, the operatives utilized superior firepower and advanced tactical maneuvers to overwhelm the attackers, forcing the criminal syndicate to abandon the majority of their captives and scatter deep into the thick undergrowth.

During a meticulous sweep and comb of the immediate forest axis, the police team successfully recovered nine of the passengers entirely unharmed. The rescued individuals have been identified as:

* Abubakar Ibrahim (28)
* Rakkiya Ya’u (30)
* Shamsiya Ahmad Mahamud (18)
* Jumai Majarazu (20)
* Salamatu Adamu (30)
* Yusuf Halliru (17)
* Harira Hamisu (25)
* Umma Kabir (17)
* Nusaiba Maharazu (3)

Despite the successful rescue of the nine passengers, the state command noted that two individuals from the vehicle remain unaccounted for. The missing persons are the 40-year-old driver of the commercial car, Aliyu (popularly known within the transit corridor as Maitakabari), and one other passenger, identified as Buhari Kabir.

Reacting to the tactical engagement, the Katsina State Commissioner of Police, CP Ali Umar Fage, commended the gallantry, rapid deployment, and professionalism exhibited by the responding operatives.

CP Fage reassured the public that dedicated police units are working in tandem with local security networks to track the fleeing bandits, secure the safe return of the remaining two missing persons, and permanently de-risk the state’s major transit highways.