Nine people, including four civilians and five security personnel, were killed during operations to rescue victims abducted by suspected members of an international terrorist organisation in Oyo State.
The Director-General of the Department of State Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi, disclosed this in an interview with Premium Times, explaining that security operatives moved to track the kidnappers after receiving credible intelligence about the abduction.
According to him, a vigilante and a police officer were killed during the initial pursuit, while additional casualties occurred when security forces later raided the kidnappers’ hideout.
Ajayi said, “Immediately after the incident happened, based on credible intelligence, troops chased them immediately, and sadly, a vigilante and a policeman were killed. During the second raid, more were killed, making a total of nine fatalities, four civilians and five security personnel.”
He described the rescue mission as a difficult operation, particularly because one of the victims was a two-and-a-half-year-old child who could not have escaped quickly if security forces had stormed the location.
“It was a complex operation involving a two-and-a-half-year-old infant who could not run much if we invaded the place,” the DSS boss explained.
Ajayi also criticised the spread of false information on social media during the operation, saying some videos circulated as evidence of the children being tortured were actually old recordings from another country.
“As expected, the rescue operation attracted a lot of social media disinformation. You have to sieve the information there,” he said.
He further disclosed that some of the circulated videos were deepfakes, adding that footage showing children with injuries had been taken from unrelated incidents.
“While that incident lasted, they were posting deepfake videos of children beaten with lacerations on their bodies. They were actually footage from a particular country on witchcraft-related incidents passed off as real-time crude events here,” Ajayi said.
The DSS chief urged journalists to verify information before publishing reports about sensitive security operations, stressing the importance of distinguishing verified facts from fabricated narratives.
“Recall the victims recounted how well-treated they were by the criminals. So, one of the things I’d like you to do in the media is fact-finding and separating facts from fiction,” he said.
Ajayi identified the kidnappers as members of an international terrorist organisation with links to Al-Qaeda and disclosed that the DSS had previously arrested some of its leaders.
He said the arrested suspects were connected to the Abuja-Kaduna train attack and had allegedly been planning additional abductions involving foreigners, students, women and children.
“Citizens ought to know that the incarcerated leaders of the kidnap group who were requested in exchange for the victims were arrested last year by the Service; their arrest helped to prevent high-profile attacks,” he said.
He added that the suspects had been “found complicit in the Abuja/Kaduna train attack and were planning more kidnappings of foreigners, students, women and their children on a large scale.”
According to Ajayi, the group was also seeking recognition as a state and demanding the freedom to practise its religion within a territory under its control.
He said the arrest of the group’s leaders was part of efforts to prevent further attacks, adding that the kingpins and three other collaborators had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
“The kingpins are the ones now sentenced to life imprisonment. The three other collaborators earned life imprisonment, and the Service will push for a stiffer penalty,” Ajayi stated.
The Oyo abduction occurred on May 15, 2026, when armed men attacked three schools in Oriire Local Government Area and abducted pupils and teachers.
The incident triggered a joint security operation involving various agencies, which eventually resulted in the rescue of the victims.
