DSS Intelligence Exposes Mass Abduction Plot: Edo State Government Orders Immediate Shutdown of Frontline Schools in Akoko Edo

The security infrastructure of Edo State has transitioned into an emergency defensive posture following an explosive intelligence dispatch originating from the state command of the Department of State Services (DSS). An official memo issued by the State Director of Security, B. Agada, addressed directly to regional security formations, revealed a highly calculated strategy by suspected bandits to launch mass kidnapping raids targeting educational facilities.

​According to the classified intercept, the criminal network—identified as an alliance consisting of external mercenaries of Fulani extraction from Zamfara State, including operators code-named "Bawa" and "Nuhu"—calculated that targeting vulnerable school environments would yield massive dividends. The suspects explicitly disclosed in intercepted conversations that their previous tactics of seeking out wealthy individuals for abduction had failed to generate their expected financial targets. Consequently, they determined that executing a large-scale student abduction would capture maximum government attention, forcing state actors to concede to huge ransom payments and political concessions.

​The imminence of the threat was further validated on June 4, 2026, when joint security operatives apprehended 25-year-old Emmanuel Momidu while he was actively conducting hostile surveillance and tracking routines around Makeke Secondary School in the Akoko Edo Local Government Area.

In immediate administrative alignment with the DSS advisory, the Edo State Government, under the leadership of Governor Monday Okpebholo, authorized a swift tactical intervention through the Ministry of Education. An official emergency circular signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Enodolomwanyi Otamere, confirmed that approval has been granted for the immediate, temporary suspension of all academic and non-academic activities across high-vulnerability coordinates in Akoko Edo.

​The direct shutdown order takes immediate effect and covers three frontline institutions: Ososo Grammar School, Ososo Comprehensive High School, and Makeke Secondary School. School principals have been strictly directed to orchestrate a safe and orderly evacuation of all students to their parents and guardians, secure institutional properties, and maintain a constant, uninterrupted channel of communication with state investigators and neighborhood security councils.

A critical exception to the total shutdown has been carved out to protect the academic timelines of senior students. The Ministry of Education specified that candidates currently participating in the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) will be allowed continued, unhindered access to their designated testing halls.

​However, their participation will be governed by strict security arrangements and heavy physical supervision. Joint teams comprising the Nigeria Police Force, military detachments, local hunters, and the Edo State Security Network (ESSN) have been deployed to form a defensive ring around exam centers.

​The state command has urged parents, guardians, and residents of Edo North to remain completely calm, intensely vigilant, and to cooperate fully with ongoing counter-terrorism maneuvers as specialized assets intensify confidence-building patrols to restore normal academic operations.