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Nigeria rescues schoolchildren, teachers abducted in Oyo, Presidency says

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Nigerian authorities announce a major development in the case of schoolchildren and teachers kidnapped in Oyo state. Picture:
Nigerian authorities announce a major development in the case of schoolchildren and teachers kidnapped in Oyo State. Nigerian authorities announce a major development in the case of schoolchildren and teachers kidnapped in Oyo state. Picture: Picture: REUTERS/Sodiq Adelakun/File Photo

At least 39 schoolchildren and six teachers kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria’s southwestern Oyo state nearly two months ago have been rescued by security forces, a presidential spokesperson said on Friday.

  • The pupils and teachers were abducted on May 15 when armed men targeted multiple schools in Oyo’s Oriire district.
  • Oyo officials had said one of the abducted teachers was killed in captivity.
  • Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga said eight kidnappers were arrested and are in custody.

  • President Bola Tinubu said his government “will get justice for these children and their teachers” and the family of the teacher “who the terrorists gruesomely murdered”.
  • Mass kidnappings by armed groups have become a major security challenge in Nigeria in recent years, with criminal gangs exploiting weak security and porous borders to target travellers, pupils and rural communities for cash and in-kind payments.
  • Schools are often targeted, though such attacks are less frequent in the southwest of the country.

Reuters