No Details as Oyo School Children, Teachers Regain Freedom After 56 Days in Terrorist Captivity

All the 39 pupils and seven teachers abducted by Islamist terrorists  in Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State have regained their freedom after nearly two months in captivity.

Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga announced the development in a statement shared on his social media handles on Friday.

Onanuga announced that the kidnap victims were all freed by their abductors, but he did not disclose if ransom was paid before they were released or the federal government agreed for prisoners-swap as earlier demanded by the terrorists.

“Finally, all the kidnapped pupils and teachers in Orire, Oyo have been rescued by our security agencies,” he wrote in X.

The pupils and their teachers were violently abducted on May 15, 2025 when armed terrorists attacked three schools; Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School, in the Esiele and Yawota communities of Oriire Local Government Area, a teacher identified as Joel Adesiyan was killed as he made attempt to escape during the attack.

After they were abducted one of the teachers, Michael Oyedokun  was beheaded by the terrorists who made series of demands including demand for hundreds of millions of Naira, introduction of Sharia legal system in the Southwest region and the release of their members allegedly detained by the government of Nigeria.

Some of the specific demands by the terrorists include, the release of detained terrorist commanders, payment of ransom, two Hilux vehicles and the implementation of Sharia-related law.

Both the Oyo State Government and the Federal Government of Nigeria had at several times insisted that no ransom would be paid.

Despite the stand of the government, several sources say that ransoms were paid before the release of other abducted victims in several parts of the country, especially the Northwest, Northeast, North Central and some parts of the Southwest.

At press time, no security service has given any details of the rescue of the 46 kidnapped pupils and teachers.