Abductors have freed no fewer than Forty-five people who were kidnapped in Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State after renewed peace talks under the Operation Safe Corridor initiative.

The development follows a negotiation involving a bandit leader identified as Isiya Kwashen Garwa.

The victims were freed on Monday including men and women from Guga in Doguwar Dorawa Fulani settlement and Gidan Danmayaki villages.

Counter-insurgency expert, Zagazola Makama, announced the development on his X handle on Tuesday.

According to him, the victims “regained freedom at about 1400hrs” and were immediately received by the lawmaker representing Bakori Constituency in the Katsina State House of Assembly.

He stated further that the lawmaker took them straight to the comprehensive health centre in Bakori where health workers “conducted evaluations to ascertain their physical condition after prolonged captivity.”

Makama added that the released victims had already reunited with their families, noting that security agencies and community leaders were maintaining “close monitoring as part of efforts to consolidate the peace process and prevent further attacks.”