Chattered bones, chains, and executions: Rescued Oyo Principal recounts chilling 56 days in terrorist camp
Survivors of the mid-May school abductions in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State have shared horrifying details of their 56-day captivity, describing a calculated campaign of psychological torture, physical abuse, and cold-blooded execution.
Speaking following their formal handover to the state government on Monday, Mrs Rachael Alamu, the Principal of Community High School, Ahoro-Esinele, recounted how her own vehicle was initially weaponised to facilitate their abduction.
“On the morning we were taken, they used my car to drive us to a designated staging point,” Mrs Alamu recalled. “There, we were merged with primary school pupils and another teacher. From that spot, we were forced to walk for an hour before being crammed onto about ten motorcycles and driven deep into uncharted forest paths.”
“We moved almost exclusively at night under pitch darkness. The youngest children, some only four or six years old, were beaten mercilessly whenever they cried out. They wanted absolute silence to evade the soldiers.”
The execution of Michael Oyedokun
According to the principal, the most traumatising moment of the entire ordeal was the brutal execution of Mr Michael Oyedokun, a mathematics teacher who was abducted alongside them.
Mrs Alamu revealed that the execution was not random, but a deliberate act of psychological warfare aimed at the government.
“The kidnappers killed Mr Oyedokun to scare away the pursuing security agencies,” she explained. “They wanted to send a bloody, unmistakable message to the authorities that they meant business.”
Mrs Rachael Alamu and a shattered career
The 56-day nightmare has left deep emotional scars on the surviving educators. Mrs Alamu, who has taught in rural schools for 28 years, admitted she is too terrified to ever return to her classroom under the same vulnerable conditions.
“Going back to work in those rural areas will take nothing short of a miracle,” she said. “I only have four years left until retirement. I have sacrificed so much of my life and income just navigating transport to those remote locations. After this trauma, I honestly do not know how I can ever go back.”
