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DSS nab suspected mastermind of 2025 Ayetoro ECWA church attack
Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested Shafiu Usman, the alleged mastermind behind the deadly attack on ECWA Church in Ayetoro, Kogi State, where more than 20 worshippers were kidnapped on December 14, 2025.
A security source revealed that Usman was captured at a hideout in Gombe State, where he had been hiding.
During questioning, he reportedly confessed to planning the Ayetoro church attack and other kidnappings across Niger, Kwara, and Kogi States.
Usman revealed that he collaborated with Ibrahim Dange Battijo, a notorious bandit operating across Niger, Kwara, Kogi, and Zamfara States.
“Shafiu admitted to involvement in kidnapping, banditry, and cattle rustling. He said Ibrahim Battijo supplied him with arms and ammunition.
“After the Kogi attack, he fled to Gombe, but DSS operatives trailed and arrested him.
“This arrest underscores the DSS’s ongoing achievements in tackling banditry and terrorism, including recent operations in Gombe State that neutralized arms trafficking networks, rescued kidnap victims, and dismantled cross-state syndicates,” the source said.
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