Oriire Kidnappers Buckle Under Pressure As Associates’ Hideouts Exposed

The abductors holding schoolchildren and teachers from Ahoro-Esinle, Yawota and Alawusa communities in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State are said to be buckling under mounting pressure, following the exposure of their associates’ hideouts across the country.

Security sources disclosed on Tuesday that painstaking intelligence work by the Department of State Services (DSS) has led to the identification and tracing of several individuals linked to the kidnapping gang, with their locations now known to security operatives in different parts of Nigeria.

The development is said to have thrown the abductors into disarray, as they grapple with the reality that the network shielding them is no longer safe. A security source familiar with the operation revealed that the kidnappers have grown visibly apprehensive, their once-firm resolve now shaken by the realisation that their associates could be picked up at any time.
“The kidnappers are becoming increasingly apprehensive. Their confidence has been shaken, and they are now showing greater willingness to release the children,” the source said.

Beyond the exposure of their associates, the abductors are also feeling the heat on the ground. For the past two weeks, a combined team of DSS operatives and military personnel has steadily tightened its grip around the kidnappers’ enclave in the expansive Oyo National Park forest, blocking every possible escape route.

With their support network compromised and their movement restricted, the gang is reported to be rethinking its strategy, abandoning earlier demands for the release of jailed Ansaru commanders, Mahmud Usman (alias Abu Bara’a or Abbas Mukhtar) and his deputy, Abubakar Abba (alias Isah Adam or Mahmud Al-Nigeri), in favour of negotiating a way out of the standoff.
The gang had struck on May 15, abducting 39 pupils and seven teachers in coordinated attacks on Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota and two other schools in Esinle.

Confirming the progress being made, Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Waidi Shaibu, told journalists in Port Harcourt at the weekend that troops were recording tremendous gains in the rescue operation, assuring that efforts to free the victims were advancing steadily.

Reacting to the development, the Anglican Diocese of Ogbomoso called on government at all levels to keep Nigerians informed with regular updates as the pressure on the abductors intensifies. The Bishop of the Diocese, Right Reverend Titus Olayinka, said hope remained “the oxygen of a weary people,” while commending the sacrifices of security personnel involved in the operation and extending condolences to families of those who lost their lives in the course of the rescue mission.