Freedom came the way of two soldiers of the Joint Military Task Force in the Niger Delta and four civilian hostages abducted by daring armed militants who held sway in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area(ONELGA) of Rivers.

The Joint Task Force, Operation DELTA SAFE (ODS) on Friday, said its troops raided a militants camp at Obiozimini, and rescued the six held hostage.

The two soldiers had gone to the area for a banking transaction when reports came that they had been killed by suspected kidnappers terrorizing the area.

Spokesman of the joint task force, Major Ibrahim Abdullahi, who narrated the raid operation, said the suspected kidnappers on sighting the soldiers opened fire, engaging the troops in a gun duel and later fled into the forest leaving behind their hostages.

“On approach to the camp, the suspected militants/cultists opened fire on the troops who subsequently engaged them with superior fire power in the process of which the suspected kidnappers escaped with various degree of gunshots wounds into an adjoining forest.

“The operation successfully rescued the two abducted personnel. Further search at the camp led to the rescue of four civilians, including a lady that were kidnapped,” he said.

Abdullahi said that three pump actions, eight empty cartridges, a human skull and bones were recovered from the camp adding that it has been destroyed and the rescued victims have been taken to the military facility for medical care.