At least 97 hostages, including infants and pregnant women, have been rescued during operations in northwest Nigeria.  

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According to CNN, a press conference was held in Gusau on Tuesday. The Commissioner of Police in northwestern Zamfara announced that 97 victims, including babies, and women who are nursing and pregnant, were “rescued unconditionally” in Zamfara’s Shinkafi and Tsafe districts on Monday.   

Out of the nearly 100 hostages, seven were pregnant women, more than a dozen were babies under the age of seven months and 16 were between the ages of two and seven, according to police. The victims had been held captive for more than two months before being rescued.  

The hostages were abducted from their homes and on highways in remote communities in Zamfara, The Guardian reported. While in captivity, they slept in abandoned forest reserves and hideouts.  

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A senior official told CNN the rescue operations were a joint effort. “It was a collaborative effort between the state government, security agencies, and also the help given by some repentant bandits who have been helping the government in giving intelligence about the activities of the abductors that led to the release of the victims,” he said. “No ransom was paid.”  

This is a developing story.  

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