DSS Arrests Alleged Mastermind of 2025 Ayetoro ECWA Church Attack

 

 

Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have apprehended Shafiu Usman, the suspected mastermind behind the deadly assault on ECWA Church in Ayetoro, Kogi State, where more than 20 worshippers were abducted on December 14, 2025.

Security sources revealed that Usman was captured at a hideout in Gombe State after reportedly going into hiding. During interrogation, he allegedly admitted to coordinating the Ayetoro church attack and other kidnapping operations across Niger, Kwara, and Kogi states.
Usman disclosed that he worked alongside Ibrahim Dange Battijo, a notorious bandit said to be active in Niger, Kwara, Kogi, and Zamfara states. He reportedly confessed to participating in kidnapping, banditry, and cattle rustling, adding that Battijo supplied him with arms and ammunition.
Following the Kogi incident, Usman fled to Gombe, but DSS operatives tracked and arrested him.
The arrest, according to sources, highlights the DSS’s sustained efforts against banditry and terrorism. Recent operations in Gombe State reportedly led to the disruption of arms trafficking networks, rescue of kidnap victims, and dismantling of cross-state criminal syndicates.
The suspect remains in DSS custody and is expected to be arraigned in due course.