A raid conducted by the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) resulted in the rescue of the 38 worshippers forcefully taken from the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Ifelodun LGA of Kwara State, by gunmen on Wednesday 19 November, New Telegraph has gathered.
Highly-placed security sources, who spoke in confidence on the development, Monday, hinted that President Bola Tinubu “personally coordinated” the strategies that were deployed by heads of security agencies culminating in the rescue of the kidnapped worshippers at about 3:20 pm on Sunday.
It was further gathered that President Tinubu approved the Sunday raid by the DSS and the NAF culminating in the rescue of the victims.
“The operation was highly classified, so could not confirm whether or not the kidnappers fled on sighting the security operatives, or were eliminated.
One of the sources revealed that: “The President had personally taken charge of coordinating the operations, taking round-the-clock briefings, weighing the options, and resolving to go to extreme lengths to prove wrong all those accusing his administration of not protecting Christians and non-Christians enough.
‘As a matter of fact, the Commander-in-Chief’s personal involvement triggered an unprecedented intelligence mapping and aerial surveillance by Office of the NSA, resulting in DSS operatives swopping on established coordinates in the forests of Oreke Okeigbo, in Ifelodun LGA of Kwara State.
“Be informed that some gunmen had in June attacked a marble mining company in the same area, killing two policemen, and kidnapped some Chinese workers”.
“A breakdown of the 38 rescued kidnapped church worshippers showed that 26 of them are females while the remaining 12 are males.
“The oldest victim is 67 years old, while the youngest worshipper is five. Four other rescued victims are six, nine years old respectively.
“Two of them are 10 years old; three are in their pre-teens, four are teenagers, while the rest are between 20 and 58 years old, disclosed the sources”, another source disclosed.
Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdukrazaq, had commended President Tinubu’s “hands-on approach” to dealing with the situation.
A statement earlier issued by his chief press secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, read in part: “The Governor says this is wholly due to the hands-on approach of President Bola Tinubu, GCFR, who has personally led the efforts to free the abductees.
“The…Governor is immensely grateful to President Bola Tinubu, GCFR, for his direct initiative that made this happen.
“The Governor also expresses appreciation to the Office of the National Security Adviser; the Department of State Services (DSS); the Nigerian Army; Nigeria Intelligence Agency; and, of course, the Nigeria Police, which has graciously deployed four new tactical teams to Kwara State on the directive of the President”.
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