How Tinubu Supervised DSS Rescue Of 38 Kidnapped Church Members

More details have emerged about how President Bola Tinubu personally ordered, monitored and supervised the rescue of all the 38 kidnapped church worshippers of Eruku, Ifelodun LGA, Kwara State by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) at about 3.20 pm on Sunday.

Security sources, who spoke to LEADERSHIP, after careful study of the strategies presented by heads of security agencies, the president gave the nod for the DSS operations on Sunday.

The rescue came as the state governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, thanked President Bola Tinubu, the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, as well as the DSS Director General, Oluwatosin Ajayi, and heads of other security services, for bringing relief to millions of people around the world who had been on edge for days.

The sources disclosed 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.

The sources further disclosed that the president’s personal involvement triggered an unprecedented intelligence mapping and aerial surveillance by the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, resulting in DSS operatives sweeping on established coordinates in the forests of Oreke Okeigbo, in Ifelodun LGA of Kwara State.

According to the sources, the president approved the Sunday raid by the DSS and the Nigerian Air Force, culminating in the rescue of the victims. The sources said the operation was highly classified, so they couldn’t tell if the kidnappers fled on sighting the security operatives or were eliminated.

The sources drew attention to the fact that some gunmen had in June attacked a marble mining company in the same area, killing two policemen, and kidnapped some Chinese workers.
The sources also revealed that 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 and nine years old, respectively. Two of them are 10 years old; three are in their pre-teen years, four are teenagers, while the rest are between 20 and 58 years old, according to the sources.

Recall that several suspected terrorists invaded the Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, Kwara State, last Wednesday, shooting at worshippers. At the end of the bloody attack, which was inadvertently streamed live, two worshippers lay dead with several others wounded. The kidnappers thereafter fled into the bushes with 38 other worshippers, triggering international outrage.