Anguish As Oyo Schoolchildren, Teachers Spend One Month in Captivity
- 46 children and staff were abducted by gunmen from three schools in Oyo state on May 15, with Nigeria’s army attributing the attack to Boko Haram
- Families of the abducted students are in anguish a month after the kidnapping, with one mother vowing never to send her children back to school
- The mass abduction triggered a statewide teachers’ strike, community protests, and condemnation from Afrobeats stars Tiwa Savage and Davido
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Forty-six children aged two to 16, along with staff members, have spent over a month in captivity after gunmen stormed three schools on the edges of Old Oyo National Park in Oyo state on May 15.
Nigeria’s army has attributed the attack to the jihadist group Boko Haram, marking a deeply alarming expansion of criminal and bandit activity into southwestern Nigeria, long considered one of the country’s safest regions.
Source: Twitter
The Punch reports that AFP visited the affected farming towns of Yawota and Ahoro-Esinele, where several houses and businesses were found shuttered, and both communities appeared desolate in the wake of the raids.
Families devastated: “No more schooling for them here”
Sisters Deborah Oyedele and Abosede Ojedele, whose sons are among the abducted, have been taking turns consoling each other in their home in Yawota. Ojedele’s three-year-old daughter, Hannah, has been asking for her brothers and cousin.
“She does not understand why she has not been seeing them.”
For their mother, Funmilayo Ojo, the ordeal carries additional regret; she had encouraged her daughter-in-law, Mary Akanbi, to relocate to Yawota to take up a teaching job. Akanbi and her two-year-old toddler were among the 25 people seized from Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School.
“There will be no more schooling for them here. No parent would willingly send a child to a school where bandits have kidnapped students.”
Failed rescue mission: Hunters engaged kidnappers in two-hour firefight
Four witnesses told AFP the attackers swept into the towns on motorcycles dressed in military fatigues. A local hunter said a joint team of troops, Amotekun operatives, and hunters rode about 40 motorcycles for about five hours into the forest reserve on May 16 before engaging the kidnappers in a two-hour firefight.
“They started shooting at us when they heard the sound of our motorcycles.”
He said one person had been killed and several others injured by a bomb hidden in a motorcycle abandoned by the kidnappers.
Teachers’ strike: NUT demands security before schools reopen
The National Union of Teachers directed primary and secondary school teachers in Oyo state to withdraw their services until further notice. A teacher in nearby Iseyin said the situation could lead to a decline in school enrolment if left unchecked.
“We don’t feel safe. If (the kidnapping) could have happened to them there, honestly, no one is safe.”
The union’s state chairman said new security measures were being discussed for vulnerable rural schools, adding that the government had taken the security of schools seriously.
A deputy inspector general of police, Fayoade Adegoke, told AFP after meeting with victims’ families that efforts were ongoing to secure the safe return of the abducted children and teachers.
“All hands are on deck to make sure that those children and their teachers are brought back safe soon.”
Oyo gov speaks on another loss
Legit.ng earlier reported that Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo, on Tuesday, June 16, announced that a lieutenant in the Nigerian Army was recently killed amid ongoing efforts to rescue the kidnapped Oriire schoolchildren and teachers.
He made the disclosure while addressing protesters led by activist and social media influencer Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), in Ibadan.
Proofreading by Funmilayo Aremu, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
