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I am one of the millions of Nigerians who actually lost hope that Nigerian security operatives could still face the hardened terrorists that invaded our country.
But I have seen a glimmer of hope since the Nigerian Army disclosed how an intelligence-based operation by combined security operatives forced the terrorists that kidnapped about 40 primary school pupils and their teachers on May 15, 2026, in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, to release the victims unhurt!
Of course, there has been an uncomfortable argument over whether the terrorists were merely pressured to the point where they released the victims without conditions or whether the Nigerian security operatives actually confronted the terrorists in the forest, subdued them and rescued all the kidnap victims unhurt as the report of Bayo Onanuga, the spokesman of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, seems to suggest?
Because we are made to understand that all the kidnap victims came back unhurt, I am inclined to believe the statement from the Army more than Onanuga’s version of happened.
First, it was the Army, and not the Presidency, that actually participated in the rescue operation.
Secondly, the hypothesis derivable from the report of the statement from the Army is more plausible. If there were shootouts, there certainly would have been more casualties than we are made to believe now.
Whatever is the case, one is worried that in a matter that has attracted the attention of the country and indeed the world, there is so obviously a disconnect between field operators and the Presidency.
I had tried without success to justify why the reports from the Presidency and the Army would be so glaringly different.
The only answer I got was that one of them tried to bury the truth and to lie to the country and to the world.
I do not pretend to know so much about preservation of or management of national security. But all I know and believe in is that a lie is a lie. It smells so badly. I am yet to learn how it would help protect national security by lying to the people.
So, I have tried on my own to attempt analysis of the two reports in a bid to see what each might have planned to gain by the claims he made.
Now, we must agree that it is the security operatives that must have reported to the Presidency that they finally secured the release or rescue of the kidnap victims. If this is true, why did the security operatives tell the Presidency they “rescued” the victims only to tell Nigerians that the terrorists “released” the victims?
If this is what happened, there is the need to apologize to the Presidency because the impression we Nigerians have is that we are being governed with loads of lies even when it is not necessary. Is it not a thing of joy that our poor little kids and their teachers who saw hell in the forest for almost two months are freed? Would it not have been better if we were not told how the release was secured, instead of dishing out two conflicting reports that again confirm some grand deceit?
Also, if it was the Army that lied concerning the way the joint security operatives secured the release, could it have been a resolve to promote the Federal Government’s non-kinetic policy and strategy? The puzzle again is the reason the Presidency omitted the opportunity of defending it’s most criticized non-kinetic strategy of tackling bloody insurgency.
Whoever lied, the slip is another testimony that Nigerian leaders lie repeatedly to Nigerians without any scruples.
This is not good. I make bold to state that the social contract that is the root of modern-day social organisation has an inherent understanding that the trust the people would have in their leaders must be guarded by truth and mutual respect. Even in a glorious moment of victory, as is the case of the release of the kidnapped Oyo school kids, a lie is still smelly enough to generate suspicion instead of respect.
Let us, for the purposes of this writeup, adopt the report of the Army as the true description of what happened.
That is to say that the kidnap victims were not rescued after a shootout in the thick forest. Instead, that our joint security operatives, through “intelligence-led operations outside the place the victims were kept in forest, applied so much pressure on the masterminds of the kidnapping that they (the kinpins) ordered their field operators to release all the kidnap victims unhurt.”
This sounds truly innovative and a welcome development. I therefore suggest, going forward, that this tactics should be considered more instead of using in all cases the traditional approaches. Ours is an intelligence and internet driven world.
Many of us Nigerians on the street have actually been wondering why our government, in 2026, have been unable to acquire a technology that would enable it see anybody hidden in any bush in Nigeria.
It seems clear to me now that the problem with our anti-insurgency operations may not have been the species of terrorists that invaded Nigeria but the approach or tactics employed by our security operatives all these while.
Announcing how the security operatives forced the terrorists to “release” the kidnap victims last week Friday, Acting Deputy Director, 2 Division, Army Public Relations, Lt. Col. Danjuma Danjuma, said the kidnap victims, who were rescued (or is it released) after 56 days in captivity, regained their freedom following an intelligence-led operation that lasted for more than a month and targeted the kidnappers’ network and hideouts in the Old Oyo National Park and other parts of the country.”
Danjuma explained that the successful rescue operation, achieved on July 10, was led by the General Officer Commanding (GOC 2 Division, Major General C. R. Nnebeife.
A statement issued on this said the operation brought together personnel from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), particularly the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), the Defence Headquarters, Special Forces of the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air force, the Nigerian Police Force, Department of State Services (DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), as well as local vigilantes, hunters and members of the Amotekun Corps.”
More importantly, the statement said: “The operations, which lasted for more than a month, focused on identifying the terrorists’ kinpins that masterminded the kidnapping, bursting and dismantling their networks and logistics links, including their informants and hideouts located within the Old Oyo National Park Forest.
“Multiple arrests were made within Oyo State and other locations across the country.
“These arrests completely disorganised the group, exerted overwhelming pressure on them and ultimately led the terrorist group to unconditionally release the pupils and teachers.”
Before this declaration by the Army on behalf of the entire Nigerian security operatives, the general impression was that the terrorists’ would never ever be made to consider the idea of releasing a kidnap victim without collecting outrageous ransom.
Now that our security operatives have found ways of forcing these terrorists to release their victims unhurt and without ransom, does it not follow to say we expect them to employ and further improve on this new found tactic?
*Of ADC’s Dilemma And Fate Of Opposition Ahead Of 2027 Elections*
With the ruling of the Court of Appeal on Monday, the dilemma that stares the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in the face has added more twist.
The Court nullified the ADC State Congress and upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court.
The three-member panel, in the lead judgement delivered by Justice Okon Abang, said the court did not see any reason to set aside the restraining order given by the Federal High Court in Abuja against Senator David Mark-led ADC on April 29 2026.
They also upheld the order of the trial Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, which restrained Mark-led leadership from interfering with the tenure and functions of the elected state executives of the party.
Coming at a time like this, where does this leave the fate of ADC and indeed, the entire opposition, ahead of the 2027 General Elections?
• Samuel Hezekiah Egburonu Esq, lawyer, veteran journalist and literary scholar, is a current affairs analyst.
