The abducted Oyo schoolchildren and their teachers have finally regained their freedom, nearly two months after gunmen dragged them into the forests of Oriire Local Government Area.
Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, announced the development on his verified X account on Friday. He wrote that all the abducted Oyo schoolchildren and teachers in Orire had been rescued by security agencies, describing the outcome simply as “finally”.
Blueprint Newspapers reported that the presidential aide gave no further details on how the operation was carried out. TheCable also confirmed the announcement, noting that the Presidency is yet to disclose whether any suspects were arrested or whether a ransom changed hands before the release.
The ordeal of the abducted Oyo schoolchildren began on 15 May 2026. Armed men on motorcycles stormed three schools in the Ahoro-Esiele and Yawota axis of Ogbomoso: Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Community Grammar School, and L.A. Primary School. Thirty-nine pupils and seven teachers, including a school principal, were seized in a coordinated raid that shocked the South-West.
Days later, the kidnappers released a video showing the killing of one of the abducted teachers, Michael Oyedokun, a mathematics teacher. The footage triggered nationwide outrage and hardened public pressure on the government to act.
Between then and now, the case of the abducted Oyo schoolchildren was clouded by repeated false alarms. In May, the Oyo State Police Command dismissed a Facebook claim, later traced to a deleted post attributed to presidential aide Tope Fasua, that all the victims had been freed in a joint operation. In June, police again debunked a viral video alleging the children had been flown out of the state by helicopter. Police spokesperson Olayinka Ayanlade described both claims as false and warned that they risked undermining the actual rescue effort.
Security sources told Vanguard and Naija News that the abductors had initially tied the freedom of the abducted Oyo schoolchildren to a long list of demands. These reportedly included the release of two detained Ansaru commanders, Mahmud Usman and his deputy Abubakar Abba, a ransom of around one billion naira, two Hilux vehicles, and the implementation of Sharia law in Oyo State. The Oyo State House of Assembly had rejected any negotiation on those terms.
The prolonged captivity of the abducted Oyo schoolchildren also disrupted learning across the state. The Nigeria Union of Teachers declared an indefinite strike from 1 June, and its members refused to return to classrooms until their colleagues and pupils were safely released. Protesters marched repeatedly through Ibadan under the #BringBackOurChildren banner, while activist Martins Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, led demonstrators to the Governor’s Office to press for faster action.
Paediatrician Dr Hope Adejor had warned only days before the rescue that the abducted Oyo schoolchildren faced serious health risks from weeks of exposure to forest conditions and heavy rainfall, including pneumonia, malaria and hypothermia. Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Waidi Shaibu, had told journalists in Port Harcourt that troops were making “tremendous progress” and expressed confidence that the operation would end in a safe rescue.
Security sources also said an intelligence breakthrough by the Department of State Services, working with the military, had helped identify members of the kidnapping network and trace their associates across the country. That pressure is understood to have pushed the abductors to reconsider their earlier demands in the days before their captives were freed.
For the families of the abducted Oyo schoolchildren, the announcement brings an end to nearly two months of anguish. Parents and community leaders in Ahoro-Esiele and Yawota had repeatedly appealed to the government throughout the crisis, insisting that no palliative could replace the safe return of their children.
Authorities are yet to release full operational details of how the rescue was achieved, or to confirm whether all those still listed as missing, including the toddler reportedly taken alongside one of the teachers, have been accounted for. Further statements from the Oyo State Police Command and the Nigerian Army are expected in the coming hours.
