Joint Security Operation Storms Hideout to Free Kidnapped Ogun Poly Students

Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has praised a combined team of the Nigerian Army, Police, Department of State Services (DSS), Civil Defence, and local vigilantes after an intelligence-led operation successfully rescued five kidnapped polytechnic students and two other citizens.

The victims, who are students of Gateway ICT Polytechnic in Saapade, were abducted alongside two non-students in Remo North Local Government Area. Following days of covert tracking, joint security teams launched a synchronized raid on the kidnappers’ forest hideout, freeing all seven hostages alive.

Addressing newsmen alongside security chiefs in Abeokuta, Governor Abiodun described the breakthrough as a victory for inter-agency collaboration. He revealed that the operation received a major boost after aerial surveillance support was deployed from the police hierarchy, allowing ground units to pinpoint the criminal camp and flush out the gang.

The governor confirmed that one of the students who sustained a gunshot wound during the initial kidnapping received immediate emergency medical treatment and has since been stabilized. He emphasized that the successful rescue without ransom payment proves that security forces possess the capability to dismantle criminal networks when operating with unified intelligence.

Reaffirming his administration’s tough stance on crime, Abiodun warned that Ogun State will offer no safe haven to kidnappers, warning that every collaborator, informant, and sponsor backing criminal gangs will be hunted down and prosecuted.

Ogun State Commissioner of Police, CP Olabode Ojajuni, stated that security operatives arrested key members of the syndicate during the raid, adding that tactical teams remain inside the forest terrain to track down remaining fleeing members of the gang.