The Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS), Oluwatosin Ajayi has briefed President Bola Tinubu on Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation following a string of school abductions and attacks across the northern region.
The meeting, disclosed on Saturday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, took place late Friday at the Presidential Villa.
Photographs released by the Presidency showed Ajayi in the President’s office, although officials offered no further details on the substance of the briefing.
According to the Presidency, the discussion centred on the nation’s security outlook after a week struck by mass kidnappings in Niger, Kebbi and Kwara states.
A joint task force comprising all security agencies has since been activated to comb affected areas for abducted schoolchildren.
President Tinubu had earlier directed the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi State to coordinate rescue operations.
The United States (US) President Donald Trump has offered assistance to Nigeria in tackling the resurgence of school abductions.
The offer came after a meeting in Washington between US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, days after the US designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern.”
Public pressure on the Presidency has grown following a spate of attacks on schools.
In Niger State, gunmen stormed St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, at about 2:00 am on Friday, abducting hundreds of people.
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State chapter, said 315 people were taken, 303 students and 12 teachers, after a verification exercise.
Witnesses reported that the attackers arrived on more than 60 motorcycles and shot the school’s gatekeeper before herding victims into the surrounding forest.
Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the attack, while the Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Elleman, said security personnel were combing nearby forests to locate the hostages.
He added that the Command would investigate the school’s decision to remain open despite a state directive closing schools over security alerts.
Before the Niger incident, gunmen abducted 25 schoolgirls during an attack in Maga, Kebbi State, on Sunday night.
Elsewhere, 38 people were taken and two killed when gunmen raided the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) in Eruku, Kwara State, on Tuesday. The attackers later demanded a ransom of N100 million per victim.
Notably, the Federal Government ordered the closure of 41 Federal Unity Colleges in response to the escalating threats.
Education Minister Tunji Alausa approved the shutdown, citing “recent security challenges” and the need to forestall further attacks.
Several state governments have also shut schools as anxiety spreads across northern communities.
The rising tension led to a false alarm in Nasarawa State on Friday, where police dismissed claims that two pupils had been abducted from St Peter’s Academy, Rukubi. The Command described the report as “false and not reflective of the true state of affairs.”
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