Law enforcement officials engaged Boko Haram in shootout, rescue kidnapped travelers

A security team led by police officers engaged Boko Haram gunmen in a shootout and rescued many individuals earlier kidnapped by the terrorists.

The incident occurred on Friday and involved the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Borno State Government.

This incidence was confirmed by the RRS officers and some of the victims.

The incident occurred at about 4.30 p.m. along the Maiduguri-Kano highway.

The assault on travelers on the route was the first since February when gunmen attacked a bridal train and kidnapped many of them.

It is also believed to be the first by Boko Haram since the death of the leader of the group, Abubakar Shekau, who reportedly committed suicide during a fight with a splinter group, ISWAP.

The RRS team, led by their commander, Abioye Babalola, responded to a distress call by some of the travelers who had managed to flee.

Sources familiar with the incident mentioned the gunmen who rode in five gun vehicles stormed the highway after engaging some personnel of the counterterrorism unit of the police.

Many vehicles stopped while travelers jumped out and fled into the nearby bush.

While they had been rounding up some of us, the travelers who couldn’t escape, the RRS squad suddenly arrived and engaged them in a fierce shooting, which forced them to abandon the passengers,” stated Bashir Musa, a traveler who survived the assault.