Nigeria says abducted Oyo schoolchildren and teachers have been rescued
President Bola Tinubu said security forces freed students and teachers taken from three schools in Oyo state 56 days earlier.
By Lucas Ferreira · Science & Environment Writer
2 min read
Nigerian authorities said students and teachers abducted from schools in the southwestern state of Oyo have been rescued after 56 days in captivity. The case raised alarm because large school kidnappings in Nigeria have been concentrated mostly in the north, according to Al Jazeera and AFP.
President Bola Tinubu said Friday that security agencies freed the hostages taken from three schools on May 15. In a statement, Tinubu said eight suspected attackers had been arrested and an unspecified number had been killed.
Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said in a post on X that all the students and teachers had been rescued. Tinubu said the operation ended more than 50 days of captivity and brought relief to the families affected.
Children as young as two were taken
According to the Nigerian government, 46 students and staff were abducted from two primary schools and one secondary school in Oyo. Officials have blamed the attack on Boko Haram.
The youngest child taken was two years old, while the oldest was 16, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. One teacher was killed shortly after the abduction, they reported.
Tinubu thanked the armed forces, intelligence agencies and police for what he described as the safe rescue of the children and their teachers. The presidency did not give a detailed account of how the hostages were freed.
Onanuga said there was no “quid pro quo” in the rescue. Earlier in the week, Defence Minister Christopher Musa said the kidnappers intended to use the captives to pressure the government into freeing some of their commanders from prison.
Kidnappings have spread fear beyond the north
Nigeria has faced repeated school kidnappings in recent years, with armed groups using captives to seek payments from the government and families, according to Al Jazeera and AFP. The security crisis has been linked in part to the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.
SBM Intelligence said gunmen received more than $1.6 million in ransom payments in 2024. The Oyo abductions prompted concern because they took place in the southwest, while most previous school attacks had occurred in northern Nigeria, according to Al Jazeera and AFP.
Tinubu’s statement presented the rescue as a successful security operation but did not say whether any hostages were injured or where they had been held. Nigerian officials also did not specify how many suspected attackers were killed.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.