The Inspector-General of Police , Olatunji Disu, led the nation on Friday in mourning Sergeant John Abena, a brave officer who lost his life during a high-stakes rescue mission in Oyo State. The operation, which involved a collaborative effort among multiple security agencies, successfully targeted the release of several abducted schoolchildren and their teachers.

Expressing his profound grief over the devastating loss, IGP Disu emphasized that Sergeant Abena paid the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. He praised the fallen officer’s commitment alongside other security forces who risked everything to rescue the vulnerable victims and bring them back to safety.

The rescue mission follows a distressing mass abduction that occurred in May, when heavily armed terrorists invaded the Ahoro-Esinle, Yawota, and Alawusa communities within the Oriire Local Government Area. According to reports, the criminal elements initially seized at least 39 schoolchildren and 7 teachers, triggering a widespread emergency security intervention across the region.

Tragedy marred the captive ordeal as terrorists killed at least two teachers before joint security forces, including the police, army, and DSS, successfully rescued the remaining hostages after 56 days in the bush. The brutal killings sparked nationwide outrage, but the surviving victims have since been handed over to the Oyo State government and reunited with their families. This breakthrough follows separate security successes, including the arrest of a suspected bandits’ drug supplier in Katsina and the rescue of an abducted principal, a NECO official, and two candidates in Kogi State.

Speaking at Force Headquarters in Abuja on Friday, Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu commended the returning operatives for their bravery and successful mission. Addressing the team, Disu revealed that the force had just held a prayer session for the fallen Sergeant John Abena. He reminded the personnel of his briefing weeks prior, where he charged them to join sister agencies on this serious national assignment, expressing his immense pride and gratitude for their exemplary national service.

The police chief also disclosed that other officers who sustained injuries during the fierce Oyo rescue operation are currently responding well to treatment. He reassured the public and the force that the police leadership remains fully committed to catering for the welfare of the wounded personnel. Furthermore, IGP Disu pledged that the police force will provide comprehensive, long-term support for the family of the slain officer.

“For the others who sustained injury, we are happy they are recovering very fast,” he said, adding that both government and private hospitals had been engaged to ensure the injured officers received adequate care.

Explaining why the police made the deaths of officers killed in the line of duty public, the IG said personnel were human beings entitled to be mourned and celebrated, stressing that the practice was standard globally.

“Police officers first and foremost are human beings. Police officers have emotions. Police officers feel it when a colleague dies,” he said, noting that such officers die “protecting the people.”

The top cop hailed the collaboration between the police and other security agencies, insisting that no single agency was superior to the other in the fight against insecurity.

“We have made up our minds to work together, train together and fight this insurgency together,” he stated.

He also appealed to members of the public to volunteer useful information to security agencies.

“We beg you. We plead to members of the public. If you see something, say something. Cooperate with the security agency.

“The situation we have now is such that everybody must come together. Give us information. Assist us to nip it in the bud. Because the life you save may be your own,” he said.

One of the officers who participated in the operation said the team did not see the abducted children as strangers but as their own.

“We didn’t look at them as victims. We look at them as our own children. Every step we took, we took those steps for the children. And this is what we are trained for. We are still going back to our various formations to continue our work.

“So we are very happy that we carried out the successful operation. What is expected of us, we heard the cry and we answered the call.”