Makinde Blames Forest Terrain For Stalled Oyo Rescue
The vast and rugged expanse of the Old Oyo National Park has emerged as the central obstacle frustrating efforts to free more than 45 pupils and teachers seized from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area, one month after gunmen stormed their classrooms.
Governor Seyi Makinde, in his Newsletter No. 140 released on Friday, June 12, 2026, said intelligence reports indicated that the abductees were still being held within the wider park corridor. The governor stated that the victims remained the focus of ongoing security operations, and that “the size and difficult terrain of the area pose significant operational challenges for security personnel, requiring patience, strategic coordination and sustained efforts to ensure a successful rescue operation.”
The captives were taken during coordinated attacks on Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School; and L.A. Primary School, Esiele, in the Yawota and Ahoro-Esinle communities on Friday, May 15, 2026. During the raid, gunmen killed a teacher and abducted over 45 pupils and teachers.
According to the governor, the Old Oyo National Park stretches across parts of 10 local government areas in Oyo State and covers approximately 2,500 square kilometres, a forested reserve whose density and scale complicate aerial and ground surveillance.
By Monday, June 15, the ordeal had crossed the one-month mark. Speaking while receiving the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the South-West, Olatoye Fayoade, Makinde described the episode as one of the state’s most traumatic in recent memory.
“Today marks exactly one month since the children and their teachers were abducted. It has been a traumatic and depressing situation for us as a government and for the people of Oyo,” he said.
The governor commended the Inspector-General’s establishment of the Violent Crimes Unit, describing the initiative as one that had already begun yielding positive results in Oyo, while Fayoade gave assurances that the Nigeria Police Force remained committed to the victims’ safe return.
The Oyo attack carries added weight because it marks the spread of mass school abductions, long concentrated in the North West and North Central, into the South West. Data compiled by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting shows Nigeria recorded 26 major school attacks between April 2014 and May 2026, with at least 2,416 students abducted across states including Borno, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger, Kebbi, Kano and now Oyo.
The pattern traces back to the April 2014 seizure of 276 girls from Chibok, Borno State, dozens of whom remain missing. More recently, the crisis has accelerated. In November 2025, bandits kidnapped 25 schoolgirls from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State, killing the vice principal. Days later, gunmen abducted 303 children and 12 teachers from Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Niger State.
Makinde urged residents to report suspicious movements through the state’s toll-free Citizens Enquiry Number, 615, and warned that misinformation could undermine rescue operations and endanger lives. With negotiations and search efforts ongoing, security analysts note that abductions of this scale have historically been resolved through prolonged talks rather than rapid force, suggesting the families’ wait may not soon end.