President Tinubu announces rescue of 308 abductees in Nigeria's north

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu announced Wednesday that security forces rescued at least 308 abducted people in the north, calling it the largest single-day rescue operation ever conducted. The rescued included 163 people abducted from Kwara state and 145 kidnapped mostly from Niger state. Details of the operation were not disclosed, but officials said the captives were freed from a forest and are receiving medical attention. Nigeria faces frequent abductions by armed groups known as bandits, who target schools and communities for ransom, alongside a decade-long insurgency in the northeast.