The 778 women and children are family members’ of the Darul Salam sect that was dislodged in Uttu forest in Toto Local Government Area of Nasarawa State last week.
The Governor of Niger State, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello was represented at the event by his Deputy, Ahmed Muhammad Ketso. Niger State has the highest number of captives comprising 86 women, 232 children; followed by Kano State with 20 women, and 64 children respectively. Nasarawa State has eight women and eleven children.
The deputy governor, who represented the governor, urged the terrorists on the run to surrender along with their arms, for the sake of peace in Nasarawa State, the North Central geopolitical zone, and the country at large.
He urged the fleeing bandits recently dislodged from parts of the state to take advantage of the window of opportunity provided by the military to surrender themselves in order to be reintegrated back to society.
