Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A witness for the Department of State Services on Thursday narrated to the Federal High Court in Abuja how 49 students and teachers kidnapped from schools in Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State spent 56 days in captivity under conditions she described as hell. The witness, identified as "AAA" to protect her identity, told Justice Salim Olasupo Ibrahim that the victims were moved to six different locations barefooted and slept on grass under heavy rains and sunshine before security agents finally rescued them. The defendants accused of being members of the Jama'atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan terrorist group are Mahmud Muhammad, also known as Abu Bara'a and Abbas Mukhtar; Abubakar Abbas, also known as Isah Adam and Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri; Abdulrazak Umar, also known as Abu Khalifa and Abu Khalid; Yunusa Musa, also known as Abu Yunusa Bin Musa; and Shamsu Adamu Sani, also known as Abu Itisar.
Led in evidence by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, the DSS witness told the court that their ordeal was particularly pathetic because children as young as one and a half years from pre-nursery schools were among those held in captivity throughout the period. She claimed that on the day they were abducted, a group of bandits armed to the teeth invaded the schools on 12 motorcycles, shooting sporadically and preventing students and teachers from escaping. The bandits, she said, carted the students and teachers away into the bush, with one motorcycle carrying about four persons. A vehicle belonging to one of the teachers was also used to move other victims into the bush. While in the bush, the witness said they were addressed by the bandits' leader who told them that they were being held to negotiate for the release of their Ansaru group members and not for the purpose of ransom.
The most harrowing testimony concerned the killing of two teachers. The witness told the court that on two different occasions, two teachers among them, Deacon John Olaleye and Michael Oyedokun, were brought out and openly beheaded on the excuse that government was not serious in yielding to their demands for the release of their detained members. She said their phones were seized and used to contact their relatives and government officials to relay their grievances. The witness further said that while inside the bush, they faced hunger and acute shortage of water, adding that about four persons were made to share a cup of water due to rationing. She said that at the initial stage, they were fed with rice, salt and palm oil, but when salt got finished, the kidnappers resorted to feeding them with rice and palm oil and later only white rice when palm oil also got finished. During meals, she claimed, the little children among them were usually flogged by the kidnappers to prevent them from struggling for white rice, adding that they were served food inside a dirty rubber bucket like chicken.
Throughout the 56 days in captivity, the witness asserted that they had no opportunity of washing their clothes or taking their baths, which made them become very dirty and exposed to diseases before rescue came their way. She said the victims had to close their eyes before they could drink the dirty water being served them by the kidnappers, and that they drank the water just to survive. It was while they were at the sixth camp during the captivity that security forces came and exchanged gunfire with the kidnappers, leading to their rescue. The witness gave the testimony as the trial of the five suspected Ansaru members commenced on Thursday. All five defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them. The prosecution accused the defendants of being members of Ansaru, a proscribed terrorist organisation. The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation applied for the immediate trial of the defendants in line with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, and asked the court to protect the identities of witnesses scheduled to testify by allowing them to wear masks during the proceedings. Defence counsel, Bala Dakum, did not object to the applications, and Justice Salim Ibrahim subsequently granted the requests.
According to the amended charge, Mahmud Muhammad and Abubakar Abbas allegedly ordered the other three defendants, described by the prosecution as their foot soldiers, to kidnap and kill Nigerians in different parts of the country in the event of their arrest. The prosecution alleged that the order led to the abduction of about 46 pupils and teachers from Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School in Oriire Local Government Area. The defendants were also accused of causing the deaths of two victims identified in the charge as Oyedokun and Olaleye, with the prosecution alleging that Olaleye was decapitated. In another count, the prosecution accused the defendants of failing to disclose information about an imminent act of terrorism and the planned kidnapping to law enforcement or security agencies.
The case stems from the May 15, 2026 attack, when gunmen invaded three schools in the Ahoro-Esiele, Yawota and Alawusa communities of Oriire Local Government Area. The targeted schools were Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota, L.A. Primary School in Esiele, and Community Grammar School in Esiele. The attackers abducted pupils and teachers during the raid. The remaining victims were later released after spending 56 days in captivity following a joint security operation. The Federal Government and the military said no ransom was paid for their release. The re-arraignment came a day after proceedings were stalled over the defendants' objection to being represented by a lawyer from the Legal Aid Council. The first defendant, Muhammad, had told the Federal High Court in Abuja that the five suspects had previously been represented by Dakum and wanted him to continue handling their defence.
The case will now proceed before the Federal High Court, where the prosecution is expected to present more evidence in support of the charges. For the victims who survived the ordeal, the testimony in court was a painful reminder of the 56 days they spent in the forest, sleeping under trees, drinking dirty water, and watching their teachers be executed. For the families of Michael Oyedokun and Deacon John Olaleye, who were beheaded in captivity, the trial offers a measure of accountability for the brutal killings. And for the five defendants, who have pleaded not guilty, the burden now rests on the prosecution to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they were responsible for the abduction and the killings that followed.
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