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 series of abductions and violent attacks, particularly across the northern region.
The update was disclosed on Saturday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who said Ajayi met with Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on Friday night. Photographs released showed the DSS chief inside the President’s office. Although details of the briefing were not made public, officials confirmed that discussions centred on the current security challenges.
“The Director-General of the Department of State Services, Mr Tosin Adeola Ajayi, briefed President Bola Tinubu on the security situation on Friday night,” Onanuga said.
The Federal Government has set up a joint task force comprising all security agencies to trace and rescue abducted schoolchildren in the northern region. Earlier, President Tinubu directed the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to relocate to Kebbi State to oversee rescue operations.
US offers support
Meanwhile, United States President Donald Trump has offered assistance to Nigeria as it confronts the resurgence of school abductions. The offer followed a meeting in Washington between US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Nigeria’s National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
The meeting came after the US designated Nigeria a “Country of Particular Concern” and Trump threatened consequences over alleged persecution of Christians.
Wave of abductions
Public pressure on the Presidency has intensified after a series of attacks on schools and communities.
On Friday, gunmen stormed St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary School, Papiri, in Niger State around 2:00 a.m., abducting hundreds of people. Niger State Police spokesperson Wasiu Abiodun confirmed the attack, saying security operatives were combing surrounding forests.
Niger State Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Elleman, said a full-scale manhunt was underway and appealed for calm, assuring residents that the victims would be rescued. He added that the incident would be thoroughly investigated and that the school management would face sanctions for operating despite a statewide directive to shut schools.
After a verification exercise, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Niger State chapter, announced that 315 people were abducted — 303 students and 12 teachers. Witnesses said the attackers arrived on more than 60 motorcycles and shot the school’s gatekeeper.
Before the Niger attack, gunmen abducted 25 schoolgirls during a Sunday night raid on Maga town in Kebbi State.
Similarly, on Tuesday, gunmen attacked the Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara State, abducting 38 people and killing two. The attackers reportedly demanded ₦100 million ransom per victim.
In response to the escalating threats, the Federal Government ordered the closure of 41 Federal Unity Colleges. Education Minister Tunji Alausa said the measure was necessary to prevent further attacks. Several states have also shut schools.
The surge in abductions has heightened fear across northern communities, prompting calls for urgent, coordinated national action.
In Nasarawa State, tension escalated on Friday after a false claim that two pupils were kidnapped from St Peter’s Academy, Rukubi. The Police Command dismissed the report as “false and not reflective of the true state of affairs.”
Due to the worsening security crisis, President Tinubu has cancelled scheduled trips to Johannesburg and Angola to focus on coordinating the government’s response.
