{"id":172441,"date":"2025-08-04T08:23:28","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T07:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/uncategorized\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid"},"modified":"2025-08-04T09:25:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T08:25:20","slug":"troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid","title":{"rendered":"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. <\/strong><\/span>Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) have rescued 11 kidnapped victims and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition during a major offensive across parts of Benue and Taraba States.<\/p>\n<p>The joint operation, conducted between August 2 and 3, 2025, was led by Commander Sector 1, Colonel K.O. Bukoye, with coordinated air support and ground maneuvers from Sector 3.<\/p>\n<p>DAILY POST gathered that the offensive targeted criminal hideouts in Tse-Ahur and Chito, located in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.<\/p>\n<p>Simultaneously, Sector 3 troops were strategically positioned in Gindin Mangoro, Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, to block possible escape routes for fleeing insurgents.<\/p>\n<p>The troops stormed the enclaves with superior firepower, leading to the arrest of two suspects. Several others reportedly escaped, abandoning their captives and weapons.<\/p>\n<p>A follow-up search-and-rescue operation led to the successful recovery of 11 hostages, comprising four females and seven males.<\/p>\n<p>All rescued victims received immediate medical attention and were profiled ahead of reunification with their families.<\/p>\n<p>Further search efforts led to the recovery of a substantial cache of arms and ammunition, including four FN rifles, three G3 rifles, four AK-47 rifles, one PKT machine gun, a locally fabricated Dane gun, 15 AK-47 magazines, and three FN rifle magazines.<\/p>\n<p>Troops also seized 31 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, 184 rounds of 7.62mm x 54 ammunition, a pistol magazine, five smoke canisters, and several fetish charms believed to be used for protection by the criminals.<\/p>\n<p>The troops went on to destroy the entire bandit camp and their logistics hub, effectively cutting off their base of operations and supply lines.<\/p>\n<p>Force Commander of OPWS, Major General Moses Gara, who personally coordinated the mission, commended the troops for their professionalism and discipline under pressure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis operation reflects our commitment to decisively root out criminal elements in line with the strategic directive of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Gwabin Musa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>General Gara also extended his gratitude to the Service Chiefs for their unwavering support and pledged that the momentum of the offensive would be sustained.<\/p>\n<p>He emphasized the goal of restoring lasting peace and security across Benue, Taraba, and Nasarawa States.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Nigeria<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Nigeria. Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) have rescued 11 kidnapped victims and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition during a major offensive across parts of Benue and Taraba States. The joint operation, conducted between August 2 and 3, 2025, was led by Commander Sector 1, Colonel K.O. Bukoye, with coordinated air [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":172440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[331,254,3685,1665],"class_list":["post-172441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-benue","tag-nigeria","tag-taraba","tag-troops"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid - Nigeria<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) have rescued 11 kidnapped victims and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition d ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) have rescued 11 kidnapped victims and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition d ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nigeria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-04T07:23:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-04T08:25:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1276\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"718\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-04T07:23:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-04T08:25:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid\"},\"wordCount\":367,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Benue\",\"Nigeria\",\"taraba\",\"Troops\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Community\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid\",\"name\":\"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid - Nigeria\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-04T07:23:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-04T08:25:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) have rescued 11 kidnapped victims and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition d ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg\",\"width\":1276,\"height\":718,\"caption\":\"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/\",\"name\":\"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid - Nigeria","description":"Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) have rescued 11 kidnapped victims and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition d ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid","og_description":"Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) have rescued 11 kidnapped victims and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition d ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid","og_site_name":"Nigeria","article_published_time":"2025-08-04T07:23:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-08-04T08:25:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1276,"height":718,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid","datePublished":"2025-08-04T07:23:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-04T08:25:20+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid"},"wordCount":367,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg","keywords":["Benue","Nigeria","taraba","Troops"],"articleSection":["all news","Community"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid","name":"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid - Nigeria","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-04T07:23:28+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-04T08:25:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Troops of Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) have rescued 11 kidnapped victims and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition d ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/sm_1754283442.130698.jpg","width":1276,"height":718,"caption":"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/all-news\/troops-rescue-11-hostages-arrest-two-in-benue-taraba-raid#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Troops rescue 11 hostages, arrest two in Benue-Taraba raid"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/","name":"Africa Press | Nigeria | Homepage","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/author\/cfeditoren"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/nigeria\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}