Published by Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Families of the 46 pupils, students and teachers abducted from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State have rejected bags of rice and cash donations brought by government officials, insisting that no amount of material support can compensate for the safe return of their loved ones who have now spent nearly three weeks in captivity. The Baale of Yawota community, Chief Emmanuel Alade, disclosed this during an interview with News Central on Monday, June 1, 2026, as he recounted the community’s painful experience following the May 15 attack.
According to Alade, a delegation of female government officials working with Governor Seyi Makinde’s team visited the affected communities to console the grieving families. “They came with rice and money, but the parents said they did not want it,” Alade said. “They said what they wanted was for their children to be released.” Another grieving mother reportedly told government officials: “We told them we don’t want money. It is our children we want.” A federal delegation led by the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Femi Gbajabiamila, also visited Yawota and Ahoro‑Esinele communities on Sunday, June 1, but the gestures of palliatives reportedly sparked outrage rather than comfort.
The mass abduction occurred on Friday, May 15, 2026, when about 12 armed men on motorcycles, dressed in military camouflage, simultaneously attacked Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Ahoro‑Esinele; and L.A. Primary School, Esiele. The assailants shot sporadically, killing an assistant headmaster, Mr. Joel Adesiyan, and a commercial motorcyclist, before forcing pupils and teachers into the bush. A mathematics teacher, Mr. Michael Oyedokun, was later beheaded in a viral video that sparked national outrage.
Community leaders placed the total number of abducted persons at 46 — 39 pupils and students and seven teachers, including a two‑year‑old toddler, Christianah Akanbi, and the principal of Community High School, Mrs. Rachael Alamu. Alade recounted how the attack unfolded: “On the day the incident happened, I was sitting here when I saw them pass by, but I did not know them. Not long after, we started hearing gunshots. People said bandits had entered the community and everyone ran away. The person who went to meet them was killed, and that was how the students were taken away. Little children were abducted while the gunmen kept shooting.”
The rejection of relief materials has ignited a firestorm on social media, with many Nigerians criticising what they describe as the government’s tendency to respond to national tragedies with palliatives rather than lasting solutions. One social media user wrote: “2 years pikin dey bush, you dey give their parents rice. Una really craze for this country o.” Another commented: “Tinubu and his allies think rice solves every problem. Are we now Ricegeria?” A third user added: “Insecurity… Rice. Banditry… Rice. Bad roads… Rice. This is insulting.”
The abduction has now entered its third week with no rescue breakthrough. The Oyo State Police Command has confirmed that six suspects believed to be informants have been arrested, but the actual abductors remain at large. Governor Seyi Makinde visited the families on Saturday, May 31, assuring them that security agencies were working tirelessly to rescue the victims. The following day, President Tinubu’s delegation announced the approval of 1,000 forest guards for Oyo State and the deployment of a specialised rescue unit, but the measures have yet to yield any breakthrough.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has declared an indefinite strike across all public primary and secondary schools in Oyo State, demanding the unconditional release of the captives. Civil society groups have held multiple protests in Ibadan, and the National Association of Nigerian Students has mobilised for nationwide solidarity rallies. As of Tuesday, June 2, 2026, the 46 victims remain in captivity. For the grieving parents of Oriire LGA, the message to the government is clear and final: “We don’t want money. It is our children we want.”
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