Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The husband of abducted school principal Rachael Alamu broke down in tears on Saturday, May 30, 2026, as he made a passionate plea to Governor Seyi Makinde to ensure the safe return of his wife and the other victims still held captive by bandits. Speaking at Ahoro‑Esinele Community in Oriire Local Government Area during the governor’s visit to families of the abducted victims, the distraught husband, who identified himself as the spouse of the principal of Community High School, Esiele, said that watching his wife being forced to appear in distress videos circulated online by their abductors had become deeply painful and demoralising. “My wife is the one being used to make the videos that are being circulated. It is very disheartening and depressing,” he told the governor in Yoruba, his voice trembling with emotion as he struggled to hold back tears. He commended the governor for visiting the affected community but pleaded with him not to slow down the rescue efforts, urging him to do everything possible to ensure that his wife and the other kidnapped persons return home alive.
The abduction of Mrs. Alamu and 45 others occurred on Friday, May 15, 2026, when about 12 armed men on motorcycles, dressed in military camouflage, stormed three schools in the Ogbomoso axis of Oyo State. The attackers targeted Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Ahoro‑Esinele; and L.A. Primary School, Esiele. They shot sporadically, killed an assistant headmaster, Mr. Joel Adesiyan, and a commercial motorcyclist, before herding pupils, students and teachers into the bush. Community leaders later released a list of 46 victims, comprising seven teachers and 39 pupils, including a two‑year‑old toddler, Christianah Akanbi. Among the abducted teachers are Mrs. Alamu Folawe (principal, Community High School, Ahoro‑Esinele), Mr. Ojo Jonathan (vice principal), Mr. Olatunde Zacchaeus, Mr. John Olaleye, Mr. Michael Oyedokun, Mrs. Oladeji, and Mary Akanbi. The abducted pupils include children as young as two, three, four and five years old, with many of them from Yawota, Ahoro‑Esinele, Oniya and Alawusa communities. The attackers also reportedly carted away four motorcycles — three from Yawota community and one from the high school — during the operation.
Days after the attack, a video surfaced on social media showing the beheading of teacher Michael Oyedokun, who was tied to a tree before his captors killed him. The gruesome video sparked national outrage and deepened fears for the safety of the remaining captives. In a fresh distress video released on Friday, May 29, Mrs. Alamu, speaking from captivity, appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu and Governor Makinde to pursue dialogue rather than force. “Please, I am here again to beg the government, President Bola Tinubu and Governor Seyi Makinde, to help us and dialogue with these people. They should not use force. The force they used yesterday has caused us so much pain. It has added to our problem,” she said. “In fact, one of us has been picked, and they said they will kill him because the government tried to help us by force. We want you to call them and dialogue with them so that our lives will be saved.” She disclosed that the victims had spent nearly two weeks in the bush, enduring harsh weather conditions without adequate shelter. “Today is the 27th of May, 2026. It has been about 13 days since we were picked from work. And till now, we are still in the bush,” she said. “We are in the cold, under the sun and rain. The children and all of us are here. Please, we are begging you. Don’t let them waste our lives. They are getting impatient and frustrated.”
During his visit to Ahoro‑Esinele community on Saturday, Governor Makinde addressed the gathering at the open field of L.A. Basic School, where he reassured the families that both the state and federal governments were working tirelessly to secure the safe release of the victims. “I understand the pain and anxiety that many of you are experiencing at this moment. As your government, we share your concerns, and we are fully committed to securing the safe return of our children and their teachers,” he said. Makinde disclosed that he had been holding regular meetings with security commanders, sometimes twice daily, including late‑night sessions, to coordinate rescue efforts. “Please believe in me. I have not been sleeping well myself. Together with the service commanders, we meet twice every day, one in the morning and one at night, sometimes until 10 or 11 p.m.,” he added. He warned that the abductors were dangerous and unpredictable, and that disclosing operational details could put innocent lives at risk. “The people we are dealing with are dangerous and unpredictable. Because this is an ongoing security operation, there are certain details I cannot disclose. However, I want to assure you that every available resource is being deployed to secure the release of the victims.”
The governor also noted the unusual nature of the attack, describing the abduction of nursery and primary school pupils as rare and deeply disturbing. “There is nowhere in Nigeria where we have seen this sort of situation where nursery primary school students are kidnapped. If it were secondary school students, we have heard that before, but to abduct nursery primary school students is strange,” he said. He appealed to Nigerians not to politicise the incident or engage in blame games, urging unity and focus on the safe rescue of the victims. “This is not the time to trade blame between the state government, the federal government, local governments, or any other institution. This is a time for unity. Let us come together with one purpose: to rescue our children and their teachers safely,” he said.
The Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), in a statement on Friday, condemned the abduction and expressed particular grief over the condition of the two‑year‑old toddler, Christianah Akanbi, who is among the captives. “We are particularly grieved by the condition of the children and the toddler who are being innocently held captive in the bush and exposed daily to rainfall and harsh weather without any shelter or cover,” said Rev. Dr. Israel Adelani Akanji, president of the NBC. The convention called for stronger and more coordinated security measures and renewed its call for the establishment of state police. The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has also expressed deep concern over the continued captivity of the victims and has threatened a nationwide shutdown of basic education if another attack occurs.
As of Sunday, May 31, 2026, the 46 victims remain in captivity, and no official rescue breakthrough has been announced. The husband of the abducted principal continues to wait, his wife’s face still appearing in videos recorded by her captors. For him, the nightmare is not just the abduction; it is the excruciating realisation that his wife is being forced to speak to the nation from a terrorist den, and that every day she remains there, the hope of her return fades a little more.
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