Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Thousands of public school teachers in Oyo State shut down schools and stormed the Governor’s Office on Monday, May 18, 2026, in a massive protest over the brutal beheading of a kidnapped colleague and the abduction of scores of pupils and staff from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area. The teachers, dressed in black and carrying placards reading “Their Deaths Demand Action,” “Noble Teachers Gone Too Soon,” and “Say Their Name, Remember Their Sacrifice,” accused security agencies of failing to rescue the victims four days after the attack. Their protest coincided with the release of a graphic video by the kidnappers showing a teacher, Michael Oyedokun, being beheaded – an act that has sent shockwaves through the nation and intensified pressure on Governor Seyi Makinde and President Bola Tinubu to intervene.
The attack occurred on Friday, May 15, 2026, when heavily armed gunmen on motorcycles stormed three schools in the Ahoro‑Esinele/Yawota axis of Oriire LGA: Community High School, Ahoro‑Esinele; L.A. Primary School, Esiele; and Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota. The assailants, believed to be bandits fleeing military operations in the North‑West, arrived around 9:30 a.m. and opened fire, killing an assistant headmaster, Joel Adesiyan, and a commercial motorcyclist who resisted the seizure of his bike. They then abducted the principal, two vice‑principals, several teachers, and an estimated 45 pupils, marching them into the dense forest of the Old Oyo National Park.
For three days, the families and the nation waited in agony. Then, on Sunday, May 17, the kidnappers released a video that changed everything. In the footage, a teacher identified as Michael Oyedokun was shown being beheaded. The video quickly went viral, sparking outrage and demands for immediate action. Another video surfaced showing the abducted principal, Mrs. Alamu, and a teacher, Temitope Mary Dahunsi, pleading for help from inside the forest. “I am making this video to ask for help from everyone, starting from the Federal Government, Governor Seyi Makinde, the Christian Association of Nigeria, and all well‑meaning Nigerians,” Mrs. Alamu said in the video, her voice trembling. “Come to our help and settle this thing peacefully so that our lives will not be lost.” Dahunsi, carrying a child on her back, added: “Please help us. We need help from our President Bola Tinubu, our state governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, and all Nigerians. The children are here crying.”
The videos triggered a wave of condemnation and frantic security efforts. The Senate, Yoruba leaders, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), and the Allied People’s Movement (APM) all demanded urgent action. The Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the National Assembly would fast‑track the establishment of state police in response to the attacks. The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Akeem Owoade, called for a holistic overhaul of intelligence gathering, warning that “citizens are fast losing trust in their government’s ability to protect them.”
Governor Makinde, who cut short his engagements to address the crisis, confirmed that seven teachers had been abducted and that security operatives had trapped the kidnappers within a section of the Old Oyo National Park. He also announced the arrest of six suspects within the affected community, whom he described as informants, and three other persons of interest. “The information available is that about six individuals have been arrested within the locality. Some of them we believe are informants,” Makinde said. He added that the attackers were members of armed groups fleeing military pressure in the North‑West.
Despite these assurances, the teachers’ patience had run out. On Monday morning, they abandoned their classrooms, locked school gates, and marched to the state secretariat in Ibadan. Carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs, they demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all abducted persons, improved security in rural schools, and the resignation of security chiefs in the state. The protest disrupted traffic and forced the closure of several schools in Ibadan and Ogbomoso. “We cannot teach when our colleagues are being slaughtered like animals,” said a protester who identified herself simply as Mrs. Adebayo. “What is the point of education if the price is death?”
The Oyo State Government responded by shutting down all schools in four local government areas – Oriire, Ogbomoso North, Ogbomoso South, and Surulere – as security agencies intensified rescue efforts. Police and military helicopters were deployed to the Old Oyo National Park, while ground troops combed the forest. The Oyo State Police Command confirmed that it had received the viral videos and was subjecting them to “comprehensive forensic examination.”
The beheading of Michael Oyedokun marks a brutal escalation in the tactics of criminal gangs operating in Oyo State, which until recently had been considered relatively safe compared to the North‑West. The attack has also highlighted the growing threat to schools in the South‑West, where armed groups fleeing military pressure in the North‑West and North‑Central are seeking new havens. Governor Makinde acknowledged this pattern, telling reporters that the attackers were “criminals moving southward because of pressure in the North‑West.”
As of Monday evening, the abducted teachers and pupils remained in captivity, and the search continued. The NUT called on all Nigerians to pray for their safe release, while the Oyo State Government assured residents that “everything is being done” to rescue the victims. But for the teachers who marched through the streets of Ibadan, the promises rang hollow. “They said they would protect us,” one protester said. “Now one of us is dead, and the rest are crying in a forest. How many more teachers must die before they act?”
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