Hassan Augie, a former provost of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Gusau and his son, have been rescued from bandits, in Zamfara, by troops of the Nigerian army on Friday.

Troops of sector 1 operation hadarin daji rescued the hostages, who were abducted on Thursday by the bandits from their residence.

A statement by the army said the soldiers encountered the bandits while on patrol along the Shemori-Yandoto road in the Marke general area of the state.

“On the 11th of August 2023, troops of sector 1 operation hadarin daji deployed at forward operating base Mada in Zamfara state while on routine patrol along Shemori – Yandoto road at the Marke general area encountered an unspecified number of armed bandits,” the statement reads.

“The troops engaged the bandits in a firefight for several hours, due to the troops’ fire superiority, the bandits fled in disarray into the forest along the area.

“The OPHD troops immediately went in hot pursuit of the bandits into the forest which forced them to abandon two civilians who were rescued from the bandits unhurt and recovered two operational motorcycles of the fleeing bandits.

“During an interview with the rescued persons, they were identified as Dr Hassan Abubakar Augie, a former provost of Federal College of Education (Technical) Gusau and his son.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the abductees were abducted by armed bandits late last night from his residence and were taken into the forest before the timely arrival of troops who rescued them.”

The army added that the victims have been reunited with their families.