The Department of State Services (DSS) has apprehended Shafiu Usman, the alleged mastermind behind the December 14, 2015, attack on the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) in Aiyetoro, Kogi State, which resulted in the kidnapping of over 20 worshippers.
According to security sources, Usman was captured at a hideout in Gombe State, where he had been evading authorities.
During interrogation, he reportedly confessed to orchestrating the Aiyetoro church attack, as well as participating in multiple kidnappings across Niger, Kwara, and Kogi States.
The DSS source revealed that Usman admitted to collaborating with one Ibrahim Dange Battijo, a notorious bandit operating in Niger, Kwara, Kogi, and Zamfara States. “Shafiu admitted to involvement in kidnapping, banditry, and cattle rustling.
He said Ibrahim Battijo supplied him with arms and ammunition,” the source stated.
Following the Kogi attack, Usman fled to Gombe, where DSS operatives tracked him down.
The suspect remains in DSS custody pending arraignment.
The source hailed the arrest as a significant achievement in the service’s ongoing operations to combat banditry and terrorism in Gombe and neighboring states.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
