Security Expert Reveals How Intelligence, Technology Led to Rescue of Oyo Pupils, Teachers

A security expert and former Department of State Services (DSS) operative, Dr Seyi Adetayo, has revealed fresh details about the security operation that led to the rescue of the abducted pupils and teachers from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, saying the mission was driven by intelligence, technology and…...

Speaking on TVC News at 10pm on Friday, Adetayo said the kidnappers were members of an Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group whose primary objective was to force the Federal Government to release one of their detained leaders.

According to him, the group had been planning a major operation for months after several failed attempts in 2025 to secure the release of the terrorist leader, including attacks targeting the highly secured Wawa military detention facility in Niger State.

He explained that the terrorists deliberately shifted their operations to the South-West because they believed abducting schoolchildren in the region would generate widespread media attention and pile pressure on the Federal Government.

Adetayo dismissed claims by Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde that the abduction occurred because he had declared his presidential ambition a day earlier, insisting that the attack had been in the planning stage for several months.

“No, no. International terrorist organisations don’t plan operations within a day or two; it can take them up to six months. It’s something they’ve been doing for years. Secondly, they realised that the home of media in Nigeria is in the South-West, so they knew it could generate very serious media hype and easily go international,” he said.

He also praised the Federal Government for refusing to negotiate with the kidnappers despite their demand for the release of a detained terrorist leader.

“We are talking about a leader of an international terrorist group; you don’t just release people like that. It is also going to affect us within the comity of nations in terms of our approach, cooperation and the intelligence information we share globally. It is something we need to commend this government for, saying we are not going to negotiate. What you are asking for is a no, no. And when they said that, the only option was to rescue,” he said.

Read Also

Adetayo disclosed that the rescue operation involved personnel from multiple security agencies, including the DSS, the Nigerian Navy’s Special Operations Squad, the Nigerian Air Force’s special operations unit and the Defence Intelligence Agency.

According to him, security agencies relied heavily on technology and intelligence to identify members of the kidnapping network before tracing and arresting their associates and family members across several states.

“This is not an operation where you can just go gun ablaze, enter the forest and start shooting. You have to be careful. And if you look at what has happened here, the operations involved the DSS, the Special Operations Squad of the Nigerian Navy, the equivalent of the US SEAL, the Special Squad from the Nigerian Air Force and the Special Squad from the Defence Intelligence Agency.

“What they did was use technology to identify those involved, which the DSS also had some information about prior to that time. They began to identify associates of those people, their mothers, children, wives and people close to them. They began to spread their dragnet into the North, from Kwara State, Kaduna, Katsina and Gombe all the way to Adamawa. They began to arrest family members and associates of these people. What they did was record the videos and send them back to them, saying, ‘We have seen the video you made, and if you kill anyone, we will also kill your own family member.’”

He further claimed that security operatives took members of the kidnappers’ families into custody as part of the operation aimed at securing the safe release of the victims.

TVC News Online reports that the rescue of the schoolchildren and teachers were announced by the presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, on Friday.

The victims had spent over 50 days in captivity before their rescue.