A former Assistant Director of the Department of State Services, Dennis Amachree, has waded into the conflicting accounts of how the Oyo schoolchildren and their teachers regained their freedom from terrorists.
He said both the captives’ version and the Federal Government’s account of a rescue operation could be true at the same time.
One of the freed teachers had said the terrorists released them before security operatives arrived to take them home.
This differed from the government’s earlier position that the release followed a rescue operation involving arrests, with no prisoner exchange.
Asked how Nigerians should interpret the two seemingly contradictory narratives in an interview with TVC News on Monday, Amachree said the situation on ground was fluid enough to accommodate both.
He explained that the terrorists may have promised to let the captives go even as troops were closing in around them.
“Well both can exist as the truth because see it’s fluid. The situation is very very fluid. You know some of them can say oh we’re almost releasing them and then of course the security agents came in and then did everything,” he said.
He said the terrorists’ hand had effectively been forced before any release took place.
According to him, troops had surrounded the terrorists in the forest and cut off their food supplies and communication links, leaving them with limited options.
He said, “One important thing you have to realize is that the operation itself you know was one that was squeezing life out of the terrorists. They were totally surrounded in that forest and as they’re moving they cut off all their food supplies.
“They cut off all their communication you know links and they were in fact they don’t have much options you know,
“So they could tell you that ‘oh yeah we’re almost releasing them’ but they knew that they’ve lost the game.”
On concerns raised by some Nigerians over how much operational detail security agencies should disclose after such rescues, Amachree said the public should be glad such details were shared at all, noting that similar operations had, in the past, remained classified for years.
He said, “Well I think Nigerians should be happy that we’re even discussing this because some of these things could be classified for years before we hear them. But the DSS is able to come out and even talk about it.”
He said other security institutions had also come forward with information.
“Other people that are in the know are talking about it. The military is talking about it. So at least this just to inform the public because there are a lot of people who are still believing otherwise,” he said.
He said Nigerians who did not believe the security agencies could do what they did should note that terrorists existed and that publicity was one of their major objectives.
He added that publicity remained a key objective for terrorist groups, and cautioned against media coverage, particularly on social media, that plays into that goal. He said the trend needed to change.
“And let me tell you terrorists exist and one of their major objective is publicity. And of course the Nigerian press especially social media now is giving them all the publicity they need.
“And we cannot continue doing that. And I think the military has come out to talk about it because they feel that they should at least tell the Nigerian public what is going on. Otherwise some of these things could be classified for years before they even come to public knowledge,” he said.
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