IBADAN, NIGERIA — A high-stakes, multi-agency security operation has culminated in the successful rescue of the pupils and teachers abducted from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, terminating 57 grueling days of captivity.
The breakthrough has triggered a wave of profound relief across Nigeria’s political spectrum, while simultaneously igniting a fierce debate regarding the timing and intersection of national security and the upcoming 2027 general elections.
Disclosing the development on Friday, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed that the operational task force—comprising elements of the Nigerian Military, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigeria Police Force—rescued all victims alive without any collateral damage.
Onanuga revealed that state forces maintained a zero-compromise posture, flatly refusing the kidnappers’ demands to swap the hostages for an incarcerated terror kingpin who is currently facing trial. During the precise rescue operation, several bandits were neutralised, while eight suspects were arrested and remain in DSS custody.
However, the rescue followed explosive claims made hours earlier by Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde. Speaking in Bauchi during a consultative strategy meeting with Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, and leaders of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Makinde strongly implied that the May 15 mass abduction was orchestrated to undermine his newly declared presidential ambitions.
“For seven years, we didn’t witness anything like this in Oyo State,” Governor Makinde stated, questioning the sudden security breach. “I declared to run for the presidency of Nigeria at four o’clock, and by 9 a.m. the following morning, the children were abducted.”
Makinde, who has since emerged as the consensus presidential candidate of the APM following his May 14 declaration to “reset Nigeria” in Ibadan, subsequently softened his tone after the rescue announcement, expressing massive gratitude to President Bola Tinubu and the armed forces for ending weeks of local anxiety.
The development has drawn varied reactions from political parties and actors. The Allied Peoples Movement (APM), speaking through its National Publicity Secretary, Abubakar Yusuf, expressed immense joy and commended the tactical precision and synergy demonstrated by the military, police, and local intelligence units. The party also lauded Governor Makinde for his exemplary leadership and unrelenting support of the security agencies during the crisis.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), via its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, also welcomed the safe return of the citizens but reminded the federal government of its core constitutional duties.
“The protection of lives and property remains the first responsibility of government and is the irreducible minimum that our country and its citizens deserve,” the PDP noted, urging the state to secure learning environments across the country.
Similarly, media mogul and former Bayelsa Senator, Ben Murray-Bruce, alongside the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, took to social media to praise the rescue. Murray-Bruce described it as a “remarkable achievement” of coordinated security under National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, while Sowore extended heartfelt gratitude to everyone who worked tirelessly to ensure the victims’ release.
Meanwhile, traditional authorities have warned against using national tragedies as partisan weapons. The Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, lambasted major opposition actors for what he termed “political banditry.” Oba Akanbi explicitly challenged top political figures like Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi to bring actionable solutions directly to the presidency rather than weaponising tragedies in the media, declaring that “banditry knows neither your ethnic nor political affiliation” while warning criminal networks to completely vacate the Southwest region.
