The Department of State Services (DSS) has recaptured a top commander of the Ansaru terrorist group, Abdulazeez Obadaki, believed to have masterminded the August 7, 2012 attack on worshippers at a Deeper Life Bible Church near Okene, Kogi State.
At least 19 worshippers, including the pastor, were killed in the incident after three gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed the church during an evening service and opened fire on the congregation.
Security revealed to Vanguard that Obadaki, who also coordinated the coordinated attacks on five commercial banks in Uromi, Edo State, months after the Okene shooting, was initially arrested but escaped during the July 2022 jailbreak at the Kuje Custodial Centre, Abuja.
He was said to have confessed to playing a central role in planning the Kuje jailbreak shortly after he was transferred from the Kabba Custodial Centre in June 2022.
According to the sources, DSS operatives, acting on a “well-oiled intelligence operation,” tracked and re-arrested the fugitive—popularly known as Bomboy—on Friday morning, bringing to an end more than three years of evading security agencies.
The breakthrough comes barely two months after the DSS arraigned five suspects linked to the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, which left dozens dead and many injured.
The February 2022 daylight attacks on several banks in Uromi—which security operatives attributed to Obadaki’s network—claimed the lives of policemen and bank customers, while hundreds of millions of naira were reportedly stolen in the operation that shook the region.
In recent months, the DSS has stepped up operations nationwide, recording a string of arrests involving terrorists, violent criminals, and their financiers, with its new leadership said to be fast-tracking prosecution of all suspects currently in custody.