Segun Atanda/
For 56 agonising days, deep inside the unforgiving Old Oyo National Park Forest, Nigeria’s security forces waged a silent war that few outside military circles knew existed.
It was not a blitzkrieg. There were no dramatic assaults or reckless gun battles. Instead, commanders chose patience over publicity, intelligence over impulse and precision over brute force.
That strategy ended on Friday evening, July 10, when Ansaru terrorists finally surrendered and released the abducted schoolchildren and their teachers unconditionally after their stronghold had been methodically dismantled.
Revealing how the mission was accomplished, the acting Deputy Director, 2 Division Army Public Relations, Lt. Col. Danjuma Jonah Danjuma, stated: “Following an intelligence-led carefully planned and executed operations, on 10 July 2026, troops of the Nigerian Army, led by the General Officer Commanding 2 Division, Nigerian Army, Ibadan, Major General CR Nnebeife, in collaboration with special units from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) specifically the National Counter Terrorism Center (NCTC),the Defence Headquarters with Special Forces elements from the Nigerian Army, Navy the Air Force and the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and other security agencies as well as local vigilantes/hunters/Amotekuns, in a well coordinated operation rescued a total of 44 pupils and teachers kidnapped by terrorists from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on 15 May 2026.”
Security sources described the operation as one of the country’s most sophisticated hostage rescue missions in recent years.
The abduction of the children and their teachers had plunged families into weeks of uncertainty and fear.
Immediately after the abduction, President Bola Tinubu directed security agencies to ensure their safe return. The order triggered the establishment of a Defence Headquarters-led Joint Inter-Agency Task Force under the supervision of the Chief of Defence Staff, working alongside the Service Chiefs and heads of other security agencies.
The operation brought together elite operatives from the Nigerian Army’s 2 Division Garrison, the Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service, a specialised tactical unit from the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as personnel from the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, National Intelligence Agency, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Defence Intelligence Agency.
Rather than launching an immediate assault that could have endangered the children, commanders adopted what insiders described as a “hostage-first strategy.”
For more than three weeks, troops painstakingly advanced through dense forest corridors, sector by sector, tightening a security cordon around the terrorists while carefully mapping every movement inside the enclave.
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance assets continuously monitored the terrorists from above, while close air support from the Nigerian Air Force, Navy and Police provided critical operational backing without exposing the hostages to unnecessary danger.
According to senior defence officials, every move was calculated.
Instead of attacking blindly, forces identified the terrorists’ communication centres, logistics routes and key camps before systematically destroying them.
The operation gradually choked the insurgents.
Outside the forest, another battle was unfolding.
Security agencies tracked and dismantled Ansaru’s support network by arresting informants, collaborators and logistics suppliers operating around neighbouring communities.
Family members of key Ansaru operatives in different parts of the country were also taken into custody as investigators intensified pressure on the terror group.
As supplies dwindled and communications collapsed, morale inside the terrorists’ camp began to fracture.
Several fighters reportedly deserted their leader and abandoned the forest enclave altogether.
By early July, security officials believed the insurgents had become increasingly isolated, suffering mounting losses, shrinking resources and a rapidly disintegrating command structure.
Cornered from every direction and unable to sustain their operation, the terrorists finally yielded.
At about 6 p.m. on Friday, they released all the abducted children and teachers without demanding or receiving any ransom.
Military authorities said the victims are undergoing medical examinations and psychosocial support before being reunited with their families through the Oyo State Government.
Senior defence officials stressed that the length of the operation reflected deliberate operational planning rather than difficulty.
“The objective was never speed,” one source said. “The objective was to bring every child home alive.”
The successful rescue is being hailed within security circles as a textbook example of patient, intelligence-driven counter-terrorism, demonstrating how sustained inter-agency cooperation can defeat even entrenched terrorist groups without sacrificing innocent lives.
For the families who spent nearly two months praying for good news, Friday’s operation marked the end of a nightmare.
For Nigeria’s security forces, it was the culmination of a painstaking campaign in which patience proved to be the most powerful weapon.
0Related posts:
Internal Security Dynamics and the Imperative of a New Policing Thought in Nigeria
FG Presents Buhari’s Scorecard
Olivet Baptist High School: Celebrating 80 Years of Transforming Education in the Heart of Oyo Kingdom
Elections and the Role of the Nigeria Police Force in the Electoral Process – Solomon Arase
Sunday Igboho’s Iru Ekun as Sòbìà, the Guinea Worm, By Festus Adedayo
Terrorism, Banditry: Human Body Security System Speaks!