police said on Friday it had rescued seven kidnapped victims

 Nigerian police said on Friday it had rescued seven kidnapped vi

The Nigerian Police

ctims in the northwestern state of Kaduna in recent separate operations.

Mohammed Jalige, a police spokesperson in Kaduna, said in a statement that unidentified gunmen attacked the residence of a pastor at Kudenda of Chikun local government area on Tuesday, and abducted the pastor, his wife and four children.

“On getting the wind of the incident, operatives were immediately drafted to the area, who gave the bandits a hot chase deep into the forest, engaged them in a gun duel which forced the bandits to take to their heels with bullet wounds,” Jalige said.

He said the pastor and his four children were rescued safely but the gunmen whisked away from the pastor’s wife into the forest.

According to the spokesperson, also on Tuesday, the police received a distress call that some gunmen attacked a commuting vehicle along a highway in the same local government area in their attempt to kidnap the passengers.

Police operatives engaged the gunmen and forced them to flee into the forest nearby with bullet injuries, Jalige said, adding two passengers were safely rescued from the operation.