Fifty-six days after being held in captivity, pupils and teachers abducted by Ansaru terrorists in Oyo State were rescued, not through a daring assault, but through a carefully coordinated campaign that combined intelligence, inter-agency cooperation, sustained military pressure and the systematic dismantling of the terrorists’ support network. Chiemelie Ezeobi brings an exclusive report on how, over several weeks, security forces employed intelligence preparation of the battlefield, signals intelligence, aerial surveillance, coordinated ground operations, logistics denial, security choke points, targeted arrests of key associates, and financial and psychological pressure to gradually constrict the terrorists’ freedom of movement and compel the safe release of the hostages without endangering their lives
On May 15, 2026, tragedy struck when terrorists, identified as the Ansaru faction, attacked three schools simultaneously in Oriire Local Government Area (Esiele and Yawota communities), Oyo State, where they abducted 39 students and seven teachers.
To send strong signal about their demands for the release of their terror gang leader, the terrorists beheaded one of the teachers, Michael Oyedokun in captivity.
