IGP Tunji Disu deploys AIG Victor Olaiya to coordinate the Borgu rescue operation, as Catholic Bishops confirm 47 killed and 17 critically wounded in a separate massacre in Benue's Ukum LGA.
Minna/Abuja — August 27-28, 2026
Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu has deployed Assistant Inspector-General of Police (Zone 7), Victor Olaiya, to Niger State to personally coordinate the rescue of worshippers abducted from mosques in Borgu LGA during Friday prayers on August 21.
Olaiya has since relocated his office to the state, and the Police Air Wing has begun aerial surveillance as part of the operation, which also includes the state tactical team, counter-terrorism squad, DSS, and the military.
Niger State Commissioner for Homeland Security, Maurice Magaji, said the state's newly established Security Situation Room had provided all logistics needed for the rescue team, while police have advised residents to temporarily leave the hardest-hit communities to allow for operational clearance.
Despite widely circulated estimates of 500 to 600 abducted, the officially cited figure, confirmed by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), the Niger State Police Command, and the Borgu council chairman, remains "more than 60." Police say the difficult, forested terrain around Dekara is slowing efforts to establish a precise count.
In a statement titled "Stop The Slaughter In Borgu And Ukum, Stop The Killings In Nigeria," the CBCN, led by President Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, disclosed that a separate attack on Ukum LGA in Benue State killed 47 people and left 17 others critically wounded, a substantially higher toll than the 22 bodies a federal lawmaker had reported recovered from the same attack weeks earlier.
The bishops described the country's security situation as having reached an "intolerable crest" and called for a shift from reactive to preventive security strategy nationwide.
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