The Department of State Services (DSS) has recaptured a top commander of the Ansari terrorist group, Abdulazeez Obadaki, believed to have masterminded the August 7, 2012, mass shooting of Christian worshippers at a Deeper Life Bible Church near Okene, in Kogi State.
At least 19 worshippers, including the pastor, were killed, with several others sustaining varying degrees of injuries, after three men armed with AK-47 rifles walked into the church and opened fire on the worshippers.
Security sources said Obadaki, who, after the church mass shooting, also masterminded another attack on five commercial banks in Uromi, Edo State, was arrested but escaped during the July 2022 jailbreak at Kuje Custodial Centre.
Security sources disclosed that the suspected terrorist leader confessed to orchestrating the Kuje Custodial centre jailbreak following his transfer from Kabba Custodial Centre in June 2022.
According to the sources, after over three years of being on the run, DSS operatives, in a well-oiled intelligence operation, recaptured Obadaki, aka Bomboy, on Friday morning.
This arrest comes barely two months after the secret police arraigned five suspects linked to the 2022 Catholic Church attack in Owo, Ondo State.
During the February 2022 daylight bank robberies in Uromi, Edo State, which instilled widespread fear across the region, several policemen and bank customers were killed, while hundreds of millions of naira were reportedly carted away.
The secret police have, of late, been recording a chain of successes in the capture of terrorists and criminal elements across the nation, with its new leadership fast-tracking the trial of the arrested suspects.