A former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Oluseyi Petinrin (retd.), has commended the Department of State Services for its role in securing the recent release of 46 teachers and pupils abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Petinrin, in a statement obtained in Osogbo on Monday, said the DSS played a strategic role in the operation but had received little public recognition despite its contribution to the victims’ safe release.
According to the retired military chief, while other security agencies were being praised for the successful operation, the intelligence efforts of the DSS, which he described as crucial to the outcome, had largely gone unnoticed.
“The ORIRE kidnap victims’ release was already being credited to the military until one of the released victims told the true story: they were released by the kidnappers, and no kinetic action was involved in that release.
“The kidnappers even told their victims why they were being released: members of the kidnappers’ families had been arrested and their videos were sent to the kidnappers.
“But how were the kidnappers identified and their relatives traced to their various places of abode? That was the work of the DSS and the other actors in the intelligence community,” Petinrin said.
He said the DSS maintained professionalism by remaining silent despite not being publicly acknowledged for its role.
“While the side players were being eulogised and the main DSS actors responsible for the release were being ignored, the DSS kept silent. That is the way of solid intelligence professionals. They keep mum after doing the job that leads to the success of operations and will not raise a whimper even when the wrong people are being credited for the job,” he said.
The former defence chief reiterated the importance of intelligence gathering in security operations, describing it as the foundation of successful military interventions.
“I must say it again: intelligence is the grandfather of military operations. May God bless our DSS and the other players in the intelligence community.
“I think a few words should also be said about the patience exhibited by those in charge of the planning of this release,” he stated.
Petinrin also commended President Bola Tinubu, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, and the Director-General of the DSS, Adeola Ajayi, for what he described as their restraint in handling the operation.
He said their decision not to resort to immediate military action prevented possible casualties among the abductees.
“The Yoruba admonition that hot pap requires patience to consume it was scrupulously heeded in this operation and it could serve as a template for future anti-kidnapping operations,” he said.
PUNCH Online reports that on May 15, suspected members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan, popularly known as Ansaru, attacked three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, killing a teacher and abducting pupils and teachers.
The affected schools were Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; L.A. Primary School; and Community Grammar School, Esiele.
The victims were released after spending several weeks in captivity.
Credit: punchng.com
