Security sources have said that pressure is currently mounting on the abductors of schoolchildren and teachers from Oriire Local Council of Oyo State following a major breakthrough by the security agencies that had reportedly identified and traced the kidnappers’ associates.

The latest development, according to the sources, comes barely two weeks after security forces tightened the noose around the abductors by blocking their escape routes and surrounding their hideout in the National Park Forest, where the victims are being held.

Recalled that about 54 days ago, gunmen abducted over 45 pupils and teachers from schools in the Oriire Local Council of Oyo State.

The security sources, yesterday, disclosed that after painstaking investigations, security operatives, using credible intelligence of the Department of State Services (DSS), have identified members of the abductors of the schoolchildren and teachers and have subsequently launched operations to trace their associates.

According to the sources, security operatives have successfully located associates of several gang members in different parts of the country.

The discovery is said to have unsettled the abductors, who are now reportedly under intense psychological pressure after realising that security agencies know the whereabouts of their useful associates.

“The kidnappers are becoming increasingly apprehensive. Their confidence has been shaken, and they are now showing greater willingness to release the children,” a security source familiar with the operation said.

The sources added that while the abductors remain confused over the implications for their associates, a combined team of DSS operatives and military personnel is steadily closing in on their location and is optimistic that the standoff will soon end with the safe rescue of the hostages.

However, the sources said recent gains by the rescue team had forced the abductors to abandon some of their earlier demands and shift their focus towards finding a way to escape while releasing the captives.

Also, it would be recalled that the Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), Lt.-Gen. Waidi Shaibu, had confirmed that troops are making significant progress in the ongoing rescue operation.

Shaibu, while speaking during an interactive session with journalists in Port Harcourt, last weekend, said operations to rescue the abducted schoolchildren and teachers were advancing steadily.

The CoAS said that the operation would end with the safe rescue of the victims, adding that the Nigerian Army remained fully engaged in combating security threats across the country’s six geopolitical zones.