Kidnapped Oyo pupils, principal, teachers rescued, 8 suspects arrested
No ransom paid: Presidency rejects terrorist swap deal, DHQ confirms Boko Haram faction neutralised
The 56-day captivity of the abducted school children and academic staff in Oyo State has finally come to an end following a major joint security operation that successfully rescued all 46 hostages on Friday evening.
The breakthrough was officially confirmed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
He revealed that the coordinated intelligence operation involved operatives from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigerian Army.
The operation also led to the direct arrest of eight high-profile kidnappers, who are currently undergoing interrogation in DSS custody, while several other terrorists were neutralised during heavy firefights in the forest.
The 56-day Oriire hostage crisis
The long-standing security crisis began on May 15, 2026, when heavily armed terrorists riding motorcycles and dressed in military fatigues simultaneously raided three rural schools in the Ahoro-Esiele and Yawota axes of the Oriire Local Government Area, near Ogbomoso.
The targeted institutions included:
Community Grammar School, Ahoro-Esinele
Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota
L.A. Primary School, Ahoro-Esinele
The armed invaders seized a total of 39 students—including a two-year-old toddler—and seven teachers.
Among the prominent adult captives was Mrs. Rachael Folawe Alamu, the Principal of Community Grammar School, who had previously appeared in emotional hostage videos released by the terrorists, begging federal and state authorities to secure their release via dialogue rather than rescue operations.
No prisoner swap deal with terrorists
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) had earlier unmasked the abductors as a dislodged cell of Boko Haram insurgents operating along the state’s rural borders.
The Minister of Defence, Christopher Musa, noted that the terrorists had orchestrated the mass school abduction specifically to blackmail the federal government into releasing captured high-ranking terror commanders from state facilities.
However, the Presidency has explicitly dismissed rumours that the school children and principal were freed via a secret prisoner-exchange deal or financial compromise.
“Finally, all the kidnapped pupils and teachers in Orire, Oyo have been rescued by our security agencies,” Onanuga stated, emphasising that there was absolutely “no quid pro quo.”
The administration maintained that the terrorist kingpin, whose release was aggressively demanded by the cell, remains on trial within the federal court system.
Medical teams have been deployed to receive the rescued students, teachers, and Principal Alamu at a secure state facility, where they are undergoing comprehensive clinical evaluations and psychological debriefing before being reunited with their families in Ibadan and Ogbomoso.
