By Idriss LAWAL
The office of Office of the Nigeria National Security Adviser (ONSA) has released more details on the inside operations that led to the neutralisation of kidnappers and release of abducted children and teachers of Oriire schools in Oyo state.
The task force reportedly comprised elite elements of the Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service, the 2 Division Garrison of the Nigerian Army, and a specialised tactical unit mobilised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), with the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigerian Police Force, the Department of State Services, the National Intelligence Agency, the Defence Intelligence Agency and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps providing support.
Eight of the captives were said to be arrested, while the others were nuetralised.
Overall coordination of the operation was entrusted to the General Officer Commanding 2 Division.
According to the security report, troops advanced into the forest along multiple axes over a three-week period, gradually constricting the terrorists’ movement and forcing them into a confined enclave.
The ground manoeuvre was said to be backed by sustained Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) support from ONSA assets, alongside close air support from the Air Force and the police.
The report claimed the operation led to the destruction of communication nodes and logistics caches used by the terrorists, and that all key landmarks within the operational area were eventually seized, degrading the group’s command structure without harm coming to the captives.
Security agencies also reportedly conducted parallel operations against the group’s support network, arresting alleged associates, informants and enablers in communities near the forest, as well as detaining family members of purported Ansaru operatives in other parts of the country. These measures, the report stated, triggered a wave of defections that saw most of the terrorists abandon their leader and the enclave.
The combined pressure from the military campaign, the disruption of the group’s logistics and communications, and the reported collapse of internal cohesion within the group culminated in the unconditional release of the children and teachers on July 8, according to sources, though the operation itself was said to have concluded on Thursday, July 9.
Senior military sources quoted in the report described the operation as an example of intelligence-driven joint action, saying the integration of combat and non-combat measures was decisive in ending the siege without harm to the captives.
Nigerian security forces yesterday secured the unconditional release of pupils and teachers abducted by suspected Ansaru terrorists from the old Oyo National Park forest, following a coordinated joint military operation that lasted almost two months.
The victims, whose exact number was not disclosed in the security report, were freed at about 6pm on Thursday, according to a statement detailing the operation. They have since been handed over to the Oyo State Government for medical assessment and psychosocial support ahead of reunification with their families.
The pupils and their teachers were abducted in Oyo State on May 15, 2026, in an attack the statement attributed to the Ansaru terrorist group operating from the Oyo forest, which it described as the group’s principal sanctuary in the area.
Following what the report described as a direct presidential directive to secure the victims’ safe return, the Chief of Defence Staff, working with the Service Chiefs and heads of other security agencies, constituted a Joint Inter-Agency Task Force (JIATF).
