The Katsina State Police Command has urged the people to continue to assist the security agencies in the fight against banditry, kidnapping, and other related crimes bedevilling the state.

The spokesman for the command, Gambo Isah, made the appeal during a press briefing held at the Police Headquarters in Katsina.

He dismissed the claims that over 40 passengers were kidnapped by the bandits as untrue, saying that “Operation Puff Adder led by the Divisional Police Officer in Batsari Division succeeded in rescuing eight victims of kidnap”.

“Of the 17 victims of Sunday’s kidnap in Batsari Local Government Area, eight were earlier rescued by the police, leaving behind nine in the hands of the bandits,” Isah explained.

He added that one of the victims, who was also one of the two J5 drivers involved in the attack, managed to sneak back home on Tuesday, leaving behind eight in the bandits’ custody.

According to the command’s spokesman, the ninth victim sneaked out of captivity in the night while the bandits were asleep.

He said the victim ran away from the bandits’ detention center located in Dumburum village in Zamfara State.

Isah commended the efforts of the Katsina State government towards reducing the rate of crime in the state.

The government, according to him, is doing excellently well with the issue of dialogue with bandits which has translated to a reduction in the cases of banditry, armed robbery, and kidnapping in Katsina.