By Lawrence Agbo
A former Assistant Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mohammed Ngoshe, has explained why security agencies refused to accede to the demands of the kidnappers who abducted pupils and teachers from Community High School in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, the retired DSS officer said the abductors initially sought to pressure the Federal Government into releasing detained Ansaru leaders. However, he said security agencies rejected the demands outright and instead intensified intelligence-driven operations aimed at weakening the group.
According to Ngoshe, security operatives mounted sustained pressure by targeting the kidnappers’ support network, including suspected collaborators, while cutting off their access to food, weapons and intelligence.
He said the strategy isolated the abductors and forced them to initiate communication with security agencies.
“The service went into other activities, especially the arrest of their own leaders, their own assets, like their parents, their wives and their children. All of them are collaborators.
“Upon this happening, the terrorists now opened communication with the service and asked what needed to be done, and they gave those conditions. Those conditions were denied flatly.
“The terrorists were then put under pressure. The pressure was transferred from government to them,” he said.
Ngoshe added that with their supply lines disrupted and escape routes blocked, the kidnappers had no option but to release the victims.
“They were denied access to food. They were denied access to weapons. Their informants were taken out and used as assets.
“They saw that they had no option other than to surrender,” he said.
He disclosed that security forces later engaged the suspects, killing some during the operation, while others who were captured alive later died from injuries or are being processed for prosecution.
“Some of them were eliminated, and about four of them were critically wounded and picked. The four that were critically injured died in hospital, while the others are being processed for prosecution,” he said.
The former DSS official stressed that counter-terrorism operations differ from one case to another, urging Nigerians to trust security agencies and avoid expecting instant outcomes during rescue missions.
(The Sun)