Oyo Turns to Traditional Prayers as School Kidnap Victims Remain in Captivity
The Oyo State Government has joined a traditional prayer session organised by the Ibadan Labala Masquerades Group, seeking the safe release of the schoolchildren and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area, even as the victims enter their second month in the hands of armed captors.
Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday in Ibadan. The prayer, approved by the President of the Labala Masquerades Group Worldwide, Chief Ojeyemi Ajayi, was held at the Labala shrine in the Labo area of the state capital.
“The essence is to offer traditional prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the state for the safe return of the abductees and the restoration of peace and security in the state under the leadership of Engr. Seyi Makinde,” Oyelade said.
The General Manager of the Oyo State Council for Arts and Culture, Mr Kunle Agboola, who represented the Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, praised the group’s compassion and described the gesture as a strong partnership with government. The Balogun Baale Labala of Ibadan, Chief Oosakola Oladejo, said a special sacrifice had earlier been carried out privately, while a prayer walk moved through Labo, Oranyan, Wesley College, Oba Asanke Street and Idi-Aro Junction before returning to the shrine.
The spiritual exercise underscores the desperation gripping the state. Gunmen raided Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School and L.A. Primary School, Esiele, on Friday, May 15, 2026. Governor Seyi Makinde has confirmed that 25 students and seven teachers were seized and that the victims remain within the Old Oyo National Park, the focus of continuing security operations. As of mid-June, the abductees had spent more than a month in captivity.
The episode has been marked by violence. A mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, was beheaded by the gunmen, while police confirmed that an assistant headmaster and an okada rider were also killed during the raid. The abducted vice-principal of Community Grammar School, Folawe Alamu, appealed in a circulated video for negotiations, saying the captives were exposed to harsh weather. The crisis triggered a withdrawal of services by Oyo teachers under the Nigeria Union of Teachers and a nationwide solidarity protest.
The Oriire attack carries wider significance because it marks a rare southward spread of mass school raids long concentrated in northern Nigeria. The pattern dates to the 2014 Chibok kidnapping, when Boko Haram seized 276 schoolgirls in Borno State. As of May 2026, more than 1,600 schoolchildren had reportedly been kidnapped across Nigeria since that incident, according to figures compiled by security trackers. In November 2025, gunmen abducted more than 300 pupils and staff from a Catholic school in Niger State, while another raid in Kebbi State killed a vice-principal and abducted 25 girls.
Federal authorities have signalled engagement. A delegation led by the Chief of Staff to the President, alongside the National Security Adviser, the Minister of Defence and the Inspector-General of Police, visited Oriire on May 31. President Bola Tinubu earlier condemned the raid as “barbaric” and pledged that security agencies were working to rescue the victims, saying, “We expect a breakthrough soon.”
For now, families continue to wait. With negotiations reportedly stalled and the abductees still held, attention turns to whether sustained security operations within the national park can secure their freedom before captivity claims more lives.