Top commander of the Ansaru terrorist group in Nigeria, Abdulazeez Obadaki, alias Bomboy, has been captured by the Department of State Services (DSS) three years after he escaped from detention.
Obadaki is believed to be the mastermind of the August 7, 2012 attack on a Deeper Life Bible Church near Okene, Kogi State.
The attack carried out by three gunmen armed with AK-47 rifles during a night worship service, left at least 19 worshippers, including the presiding pastor dead, with many others severely injured. The attack drew nationwide outrage and was widely condemned as one of the most heinous acts of terror in the region.
Security sources confirmed that Obadaki not only coordinated the 2012 church massacre but also played a central role in the February 2022 coordinated bank robberies in Uromi, Edo State. The robberies claimed the lives of several police officers and civilians and resulted in the theft of hundreds of millions of naira.
Obadaki was earlier captured by the security operatives but escaped from lawful custody during the July 2022 attack on the Kuje Custodial Centre.
He is now said to have confessed to masterminding the jailbreak after his transfer from the Kabba Custodial Centre in June 2022.
After more than three years on the run, DSS operatives tracked and recaptured the fugitive early morning yesterday, December 14, in what officials described as a “meticulously coordinated, intelligence-led operation.”
His re-arrest came two months after the Service arraigned five suspects implicated in the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.
