Fifty-six days after their abduction from their schools in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, the pupils and their teachers have been successfully rescued according to a statement by presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga on Friday.
Security sources said nine of the bandits, linked to the Boko Haram insurgents, were neutralised in the rescue operation.
Announcing the cheering news on his social media handle, X, Onanuga said they were rescued by security agencies.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that on May 15, 2026, 39 students and pupils as well as six teachers of three schools in Oriire Local Government Area – Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota, Community Grammar School in Esiele, and L.A. Primary School in Ahoro-Esiele – were taken when gunmen on motorcycles, dressed in military fatigues, invaded the schools.
They were whisked away into the dense forests around Old Oyo National Park, an axis notorious as hideout for armed groups.
While one teacher was killed at the scene, another was summarily executed publicly by the kidnappers.
Frightened parents vowed not to send their children back to school, while the Nigerian Union of Teachers embarked an indefinite strike across the state, demanding urgent government action. The strike was recently called off relying on assurances of the state government that something was being done to rescue the victims and prevent a reoccurrence.
The news of the successful return of the children and their teachers therefore marked a happy ending to the abduction saga that sparked global outrage.
