The personal coordination of strategies presented by heads of security agencies by President Bola Tinubu led to the successful rescue of all 38 kidnapped church worshippers of Eruku, Ifelodun LGA, Kwara State, by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) around 3:20 pm on Sunday, The Nation has gathered.
Several AK-47-wielding men invaded the Christ Apostolic Church, Eruku, Kwara State, last Wednesday, shooting at worshippers.
At the end of the bloody attack, which was inadvertently streamed live, two worshippers lay dead and several others were wounded. The gunmen fled into the bushes with 38 other worshippers, triggering international outrage.
Trusted security sources disclosed that the President had personally taken charge of coordinating the operations, taking round-the-clock briefings, weighing the options, and resolving to go to extreme lengths to prove wrong those accusing his administration of not protecting Christians and non-Christians enough.
The sources further revealed that the President’s personal involvement triggered unprecedented intelligence mapping and aerial surveillance by the Office of the NSA, resulting in DSS operatives converging on established coordinates in the forests of Oreke Okeigbo in Ifelodun LGA of Kwara State.
It was also gathered that the President approved the Sunday raid by the DSS and the Nigeria Air Force, culminating in the rescue of the victims.
The sources said the operation was highly classified, so they were not certain whether the kidnappers fled on sighting the security operatives or were eliminated.
They noted that some gunmen had attacked a marble mining company in the same area in June, killing two policemen and kidnapping some Chinese workers.
A breakdown of the 38 rescued church worshippers showed that 26 are female and the remaining 12 are male.
The oldest victim is 67 years old, while the youngest is five. Four other rescued victims are six and nine years old.
Two of them are 10 years old; three are in their pre-teens, four are teenagers, and the rest are between 20 and 58 years old, the sources said.
