Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
On the evening of Tuesday, May 19, 2026, the Chief Security Officer of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) in Idi-Ayunre, Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State, placed an urgent distress call to the Idi-Ayunre Divisional Police Headquarters. Approximately six armed men had stormed the institute’s premises. They had seized two staff members and vanished into the surrounding forested areas. Within minutes, the Oyo State Police Command was in motion. The tactical deployment worked; by the following morning, Wednesday, May 20, two suspects, identified as Shehu and Abubakar, were in custody, and the search for the missing workers was actively underway, despite a fierce exchange of gunfire. As a joint rescue force intensified its search for the two missing research institute workers, Oyo State Police Command found itself fighting a second, entirely different battle: a wave of viral social media reports alleging a separate mass abduction in the Abanla community and other parts of Ibadan.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Wednesday, May 20, the command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Olayinka Ayanlade (also identified as DSP Olushola Ayanlade in some reports), categorically dismissed the viral reports as "false and misleading." “The Command views the dissemination of such unverified and sensational reports as highly irresponsible and capable of creating unnecessary fear, panic, and tension among residents,” the statement said, adding that the spread of false information had the tendency to undermine public confidence in ongoing security efforts and divert limited emergency response resources from genuine threats. “Beyond this, the spread of false information has the tendency to undermine public confidence in ongoing security efforts while equally diverting limited operational and emergency response resources away from genuine security concerns requiring immediate attention,” the statement added.
The command clarified that its investigation had confirmed only one active kidnapping case within the Ibadan metropolis: the abduction of the two CRIN staff. “For the avoidance of doubt, the State Police Command categorically states that no such incident has been reported anywhere within Ibadan metropolis or its environs apart from the already reported CRIN incident presently receiving robust operational attention,” Ayanlade said. The fear was not without context, as the Oyo State Police Command had previously confirmed a separate kidnapping incident in the Abanla area on May 16, in which a man named Adeleke Ridwan was taken, though no school pupils were abducted, contrary to online rumors. However, the more recent viral claim of another mass abduction was completely unfounded.
While the police urged the public to rely on verified information, the rescue operation for the CRIN workers intensified rapidly. Following the directive of the Commissioner of Police, CP Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbemiga, tactical and intelligence units, including operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad, were deployed into the dense forests surrounding the CRIN facility. During an intensive bush combing operation at about 8:10 a.m. on Wednesday, May 20, operatives encountered two suspicious individuals. “Upon preliminary interrogation, the duo volunteered to lead the operatives to the hideout of their accomplices,” Ayanlade said. However, as the team approached the suspected location, they came under heavy gunfire from armed men believed to be members of the kidnapping syndicate. The police operatives returned fire, repelled the attack, and extracted the two suspects, who remain in custody for further intelligence exploitation.
The police have not yet confirmed whether the two abducted CRIN workers have been rescued, but investigations continue. The incident also exposed a critical vulnerability: the institute's expansive, 1,000-hectare land, which is without a perimeter fence. "It was discovered that non fencing of the place makes it vulnerable to the bandits attacks," the chairman of Oluyole local government said, calling on the Federal Government to erect a proper fence as a matter of urgency.
As the joint rescue teams comb the forest for the missing workers, the viral spread of a false mass-abduction rumor serves as a stark lesson. In a state already grappling with the trauma of a recent school abduction in Oriire LGA, the threat of misinformation can be as destabilizing as the criminals themselves.
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