A former operative of the Department of State Services (DSS), Seyi Adetayo, has attributed the rescue of the 49 abducted pupils, teachers and caregivers in Oyo State to an intelligence-driven operation that targeted the families and close associates of members of the terrorist group, Ansarul, rather than negotiations with the kidnappers.
Adetayo said the security operation was built on months of intelligence gathering and strategic planning following the arrest of two senior Ansarul leaders in 2024.
According to him, the arrests heightened pressure within the terrorist group, prompting its members to orchestrate the abduction as a means of forcing the government to release their detained leaders.
Adetayo explained that the abductors deliberately chose Oyo State because of its proximity to forest hideouts and its political significance, arguing that an attack in the South-West would attract widespread media attention and pile pressure on the Federal Government.
He maintained that the operation was carefully coordinated over several months, describing international terrorist groups as highly organised networks that do not execute major attacks impulsively, during an interview on TVC.
He further said security agencies rejected any form of negotiation and instead relied on intelligence and technology to identify, track and apprehend the terrorists’ relatives and associates across several northern states.
He added that troops also acted swiftly to prevent the abductors from relocating the victims from Oyo forests to their operational base in the Kainji axis, a move he said was crucial to the successful rescue mission.
Adetayo said, “I think we need to first have an understanding of the background. Sometime last year, precisely May 9, one of the top Al-Qaeda affiliates known as Ansarul leaders was arrested by the DSS. He’s known as Abbas Mukhtar. The second popularly known as Mamuda, whose name is Abubakar Abba was arrested July 27 last year by the DSS.”
Adetayo said both men occupied strategic positions within Ansarul and had been wanted by authorities in the United States and the United Kingdom over terrorism-related offences.
He said their arrests triggered desperate efforts by the group to secure their freedom.
“When they were arrested, the members became desperate to secure the release of their leaders, and several attacks were attempted last year and foiled by our security forces especially the Wawa detention facilities of the armed forces.
“After that, they went quietly and started planning this attack. This was a carefully planned strategic operation.”
According to him, the terrorists selected Oyo State because it offered access to nearby forests while also guaranteeing maximum political and media impact.
He added, “The president is from the South West so they decided to move the operation there. They needed somewhere close to the forest where they could easily hibernate. International terrorist organisation don’t plan an attack between a day or two. It can take them up to six months. These are professionals.”
Adetayo commended the Federal Government for refusing to negotiate with the kidnappers, insisting that yielding to their demands would have damaged Nigeria’s international standing and intelligence cooperation with foreign partners.
“The government needs to be commended in their resolve to refuse to negotiate with this terrorist. Negotiation is rejected; the only option is a rescue.”
He said the rescue operation relied heavily on intelligence rather than force because of the age of the victims, many of whom were toddlers.
“We are talking about kids within the age 2, 4 years. It is not an operation that one needs to go and gunblaze, but one that requires a careful operational plan.”
Adetayo disclosed that security agencies traced and arrested the wives, mothers, children and close associates of the kidnappers in several northern states before sending video evidence of the arrests to the terrorists.
He continued, “Security agencies identified the kidnappers’ (Ansarul Terrorists) mothers, wives, children and close associates. They arrested them, recorded videos and sent them to the abductors. They began to arrest family members, and associates of these people.
“So what they did was make a video and sent it back to the terrorists. We have seen the one you killed, if you kill anyone, we will also kill yours.
“The armed forces in their quick response, encircled them before they could move them from the Oyo forest to the Kainji forest which is their base which could have been very difficult for rescue.”
Drawing a comparison with the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction, he said lessons from that incident influenced the swift response to the Oyo kidnapping.
“If you compare this to the Chibok girls, the response was very slow and before the government could respond, they had already shared those children, so learning from them, they launched operation immediately and covered the entire forest area and closed in on them. Cut off communication and network supply in the forest, so the armed forces only released communication, when they wanted” He concluded.
Recall that a month-long intelligence-led operation involving 10 security agencies, the Oyo State Security Network (Amotekun), local vigilantes and hunters dismantled the criminal network behind the abduction of 44 pupils and teachers in Oyo State, forcing the kidnappers to release their captives unconditionally.
NEWSNGR had earlier reported that the pupils and teachers, abducted from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on May 15, regained their freedom on July 10, 2026.
