By Ismail Shuaib
ABUJA: The rice fields of Ichoke in Itsukwi, Etsako East, Edo State, had barely come alive with harvest when terror struck. Over five gunmen, posing as herders, stormed the farmland where Mrs. Martha Agbe and her sister-in-law were working. As gunshots rang out, her husband Paschal sprinted for his life, but the women were seized, bundled away, and thrust into the nightmare of captivity.
For seven days, Martha endured beatings, humiliation and the horror of armed men demanding a ₦30 million ransom. “We thought death was certain. Every day they threatened to kill us if money didn’t come”, she recounted.
Her freedom came not by ransom but by force. On Tuesday, operatives of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC swept through criminal hideouts in Okpella in a daring clearance operation, smashing kidnap camps, arresting 70 suspects, and rescuing Martha and other captives.
The raid was carried out by the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CG’s SIS) under the leadership of Commandant AS Dandaura, with backing from the Nigerian Army and officials of BUA Cement. The operation followed the gruesome killing of eight security operatives attached to the company last month.
“We moved in to dismantle the syndicates disguising as illegal miners and charcoal vendors. While some suspects fled, we succeeded in freeing victims who had been brutalized in captivity,” Dandaura told reporters after the operation.
At Itsukwi, the homecoming was emotional. Families wept and sang as freed hostages were reunited with loved ones. The paramount ruler, His Royal Highness Usman Suleiman, Ogei-Ochi III, hailed the NSCDC for restoring peace to his troubled community, calling the rescue “a turning point in the fight against terror in Etsako East.”
The Corps’ spokesperson, CSC Afolabi Babawale, confirmed the arrests, stressing that investigations and prosecutions would follow.
He said the operation underscored the determination of the Commandant General, Prof. Ahmed Abubakar Audi, to root out kidnappers and restore public confidence in security agencies.
For Martha, freedom came after a week of torment in the bush. For her community, the rescue was more than just a victory – it was proof that the terror strangling farmlands could be broken.
