Nigerian Security Forces Rescue Abducted Oyo Schoolchildren And Teachers After May 15 Kidnapping

Nigerian security forces rescued schoolchildren and teachers abducted in Oyo State after nearly two months in captivity, with President Bola Tinubu’s office saying the victims were taken on May 15 from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area.

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The Straits Times said at least 39 schoolchildren and six teachers were kidnapped by gunmen in Oyo’s Oriire district on May 15, and that a presidential spokesperson reported the rescue on Friday.

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DW reported the Nigerian military rescued 46 children abducted by Islamist militants from three schools in the town of Orire in southwestern Oyo state, and said the raid on schools in Esiele and Yawota sparked protests and a monthlong statewide teachers’ strike.

Al Jazeera said the presidency announced the rescue 56 days after the May 15 kidnapping from three schools in Oyo, and quoted Tinubu saying he was “profoundly happy” that security agencies had rescued the students and teachers.

In the same episode, Al Jazeera said the government blamed the kidnappings on Boko Haram and that on May 15, 46 students and staff were kidnapped from two primary schools and one secondary school.

Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said eight kidnappers were arrested and are in custody, and he told the public that the rescue involved no concessions to the perpetrators.

Channels Television quoted Onanuga saying, “Finally, all the kidnapped pupils and teachers in Orire, Oyo State, have been rescued by our security agencies,” and added that eight members of the kidnapping gang were arrested and are now in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Al Jazeera

DW quoted Tinubu saying his government made no “concession” to militants and that no ransom was paid, while also saying the operation neutralized some of the terrorists and arrested eight of them.

Al Jazeera reported that Onanuga said there “was no quid pro quo in the rescue,” and it said Defence Minister Christopher Musa had earlier said the assailants planned to use the hostages as leverage to pressure the government to release commanders from prison.

Sahara Reporters, quoting the Take-It-Back (TIB) Movement, welcomed the safe release after “53 harrowing days in captivity” but condemned the “shamefully prolonged period” the students and teachers were held by armed criminals.

Sahara Reporters said the Take-It-Back (TIB) Movement insisted Nigerians deserve a country where such incidents do not occur, arguing the prolonged captivity exposed what it described as the Nigerian government’s failure to protect lives and property.

“Two months after they were abducted in southwestern Nigeria, dozens of students and teachers have been rescued, the presidency says”

Al Jazeera

The movement warned that a “growing epidemic of mass abductions, killings, and violent attacks across the country has exposed the alarming collapse of public security,” and it urged Nigerians not to become desensitised to recurring kidnapping and violent attacks.

The Straits Times said mass kidnappings by armed groups have become a major security challenge in Nigeria, with criminal gangs exploiting weak security and porous borders to target travelers, students and rural communities for cash and in-kind payments.

DW said the abductions in Oyo prompted protests and a monthlong statewide teachers’ strike, and it added that more than 40 other children were taken from schools in northeast Borno state on the same day and were still in captivity.

Al Jazeera said the Oyo abductions prompted concerns that the security crisis could be worsening, and it said the youngest child taken was aged two while the oldest was 16.