ABUJA, Nigeria — A prominent Nigerian media group has urged the federal government to replicate a recent “intelligence-driven” rescue operation that freed dozens of abducted students and teachers in the southwest to rescue hundreds of others still held captive across the country.
The Association of Corporate Online Editors (ACOE) made the appeal following the rescue of 44 pupils, students, and teachers in Oyo State who had been held for 56 days. In a statement released on Monday, ACOE Chairman Sola Akingboye commended President Bola Tinubu, the armed forces, and the Department of State Services (DSS) for the operation, which took place in the vast Old Oyo National Park. However, the association stressed that the success must not be treated as an isolated incident. It specifically called on the government to deploy the same strategy to rescue students recently seized from the Government Day Secondary School in Lassa, located in the conflict-ridden northeastern Borno State. “The successful rescue… has shown that with determination, professionalism, and actionable intelligence, Nigeria can defeat kidnapping,” Mr Akingboye said. “Every Nigerian life is precious, and every family waiting for the return of a loved one deserves the same level of commitment.”
High Cost of Rescue.
Mass kidnapping for ransom has become a lucrative enterprise for criminal gangs—locally known as bandits—and Islamist militants across Nigeria, who frequently target schools, universities, and rural highways.
The Oyo State operation came at a high cost. The association paid tribute to the security personnel killed during the mission, highlighting the death of 28-year-old Nigerian Army Lieutenant Felix Ademe Isaac, who died while leading the initial assault team against the kidnappers. The media group argued that the victory in Oyo proves Nigeria’s security forces possess the capability to curb the country’s severe insecurity crisis if they prioritize inter-agency collaboration, surveillance technology, and community-based policing. “No nation can make meaningful progress when its citizens live in fear or when parents are uncertain whether their children will return safely from school,” Mr. Akingboye stated.
The military has not yet released official figures regarding casualties or arrests from the Old Oyo National Park raid, but the safe return of the children has offered a rare moment of relief in a country weary of a multi-billion naira kidnapping epidemic.
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