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Troops‌⁠‍‍⁠⁠‌⁠⁠⁠‌‌ rescue kidnap victims, arrest 47 suspects

Published

2 months ago

September 20, 2026

Nigerian Army troops arrested 47 suspected criminals, rescued several kidnapped victims and killed a suspected terrorist in nationwide operations in the last 24 hours.

The troops also recovered suspected stolen and rustled livestock, detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) and disrupted criminal activities across Zamfara, Katsina, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Plateau, Anambra, Imo and Kaduna states.

An operational report released on Saturday said troops of Operation MESA arrested the 47 suspects during a raid in Nasarawa State.

The report said troops of the 177 Guards Battalion, in conjunction with the State Security Service (SSS), police, and a civilian joint task force, raided suspected criminal hideouts at Tipper Garage and Gidan Drama in Karu Local Government Area of the state.

It said the troops recovered two motorcycles, an unspecified quantity of suspected cannabis, 32 mobile phones, a laptop and charger, four wristwatches, five power banks and an ATM card.

According to the report, the troops handed over the suspects and recovered items to the police division in Karu for further investigation.

In Zamfara, the report said the troops of Operation Fansan Yamma rescued three civilians who sustained gunshot wounds after engaging terrorists along the Dampo-Rumba Road in Bakura Local Government Area.

It added that the victims were evacuated to the General Hospital in Bakura for medical attention.

According to the report, troops responding to a kidnapping incident along the Dandume-Damari Road in Katsina also engaged the terrorists, forcing them to abandon their victims and flee.

“The troops recovered one vehicle during the operation.

“Similarly, troops responding to terrorist activities along the Isa-Girnashe Road in Sokoto rescued two kidnapped victims after engaging the terrorists.

“One of the victims, however, was confirmed dead from gunshot wounds.

“The troops also intercepted five trucks conveying 117 cows, two donkeys, one goat and five cow skins suspected to have been stolen at Magami in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara.

“The recovered livestock were handed over to the Chairman, Committee on Recovery of Rustled Cattle, Gusau, for further action.

“In another operation in Tsafe, Zamfara, troops intercepted a suspected stolen vehicle with the support of the National Security Adviser’s tracking team.

“The driver reportedly abandoned the vehicle and fled after being intercepted, while the vehicle was recovered to the unit headquarters for further action,” it said.

In Niger, the report revealed that troops of Operation Savannah Shield discovered and safely detonated an IED along the Dekara-Gewazi Road in Borgu Local Government Area.

It added that troops of Operation Enduring Peace neutralised a suspected terrorist during an offensive operation at Ungwan Nungu in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna.

The report further revealed that troops engaged the suspects, killing one while others fled the scene.

“At Yangwari Market in Mangu Local Government Area, troops intervened after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a vehicle conveying passengers and foodstuffs.

“Eight passengers who sustained gunshot wounds were evacuated to Allah-na-Kowa Hospital, where three were confirmed dead while others received treatment,” it added.

In the South-East, the report said the troops of Operation Udo Ka arrested suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra/Eastern Security Network (IPOB/ESN) during offensive operations along the Azia-Uli-Okija axis.

It added that three suspects were apprehended while attempting to escape through Orsu-Ihiteukwa in Imo, but one was killed while trying to evade arrest.

According to the report, the remaining suspects were handed over to the SSS for further action.

“Troops also arrested two suspected IPOB/ESN members at Azia, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra, following intelligence linking them with the group’s activities.

“The suspects reportedly confessed to delivering items to terrorists on two occasions and remained in military custody for further action.

“In Imo, troops conducting anti-illegal bunkering operations discovered an illegal refining site containing about 720 litres of illegally refined crude oil and 41 cooking drums at Egbema.

“All recovered items were handled in line with extant regulations,” it said.

(NAN)

Related Topics:Arrest kidnap Rescue suspects Troops victims

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Anthropic is working on a system to prove AI models’ identity

Published

1 minute ago

November 4, 2026

PlateauReports

Anthropic is working on an open source system to verify which AI model produced a given output, according to a blog post published Tuesday. The system, called FlashProve, is built to provide what researchers call “provable inference” — a cryptographic proof, essentially a mathematical guarantee, that a given output came from a specific model. It’s meant to let users confirm that the answer they received really came from the model they think they’re using.

Similar to cryptographic email signatures that let recipients confirm a message really came from its claimed sender, FlashProve would be robust against impostors attempting to disguise one model as another, even when the impostor is the lab that built and runs the model. In particular, the researchers note that the system could be used to prevent an AI company from secretly swapping in a cheaper model to cut costs, or a more expensive model to inflate its performance results.

FlashProve could also be used to verify claims by third parties that a specific task was done by an advanced model. “A developer might claim that their software library was scanned for vulnerabilities by a frontier cybersecurity model, or a company might claim that its business plan was given the go-ahead by an appropriate model,” the researchers write. “How can a user verify these claims?”

To work, the system requires AI labs to publish a “fingerprint” of each model they release that can later be matched to specific outputs and verified cryptographically. Crucially, the fingerprints don’t reveal a model’s weights, the internal numbers that define how it behaves and which closed-model makers like Anthropic and OpenAI keep private. That means labs could publish the fingerprints without giving up their most valuable asset, enabling the system to work with commercial models, too. The system is also designed to be lightweight, so verification could be performed on a local device.

As part of the announcement, researchers released a detailed technical specification and working code for various elements of the system, which is publicly available under an open source license on GitHub. Research in the system is ongoing, and there are no plans to deploy it at Anthropic or any other lab.

“This research post is meant to share intermediate progress, and not a completed research agenda,” researchers explain in the announcement post. “We are sharing this explicitly with the goal that others look at what we have done, take it, and improve it.”

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'He's not a Superman after all’ – Onanuga mocks Peter Obi over exhaustion

Published

50 minutes ago

November 4, 2026

PlateauReports

The special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has criticised the health condition of the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi, following reports of his exhaustion.

Onanuga, in a post on his X handle on Tuesday, reacted to comments by the Deputy Campaign Spokesperson of the NDC, Dr Sam Omale, who dismissed concerns about Obi’s health, insisting that the former Labour Party presidential candidate was in perfect health but only suffering from exhaustion.

Omale made the clarification during an interview on Channels Television, where he explained that Obi’s demanding political schedule and constant movement between locations had left him physically exhausted.

According to him, Obi is passionate about his political activities and often handles several tasks simultaneously, leaving little time for rest.

Omale, however, insisted that there was nothing medically wrong with Obi, adding that members of his team were trying to persuade him to get some sleep and rest.

Reacting, Onanuga mocked Obi, suggesting that the development had shown that he was not immune to illness like other human beings.

“So, Saint Peter Obi is not a Superman after all. He can fall ill like all mortals. I wish him a quick recovery so he can rejoin what looks like another doomed presidential campaign,” he wrote.

‘He’s not a Superman after all’ – Onanuga mocks Peter Obi over exhaustion