Nigerian Students and Teachers Kidnapped by Terrorists Rescued

Dozens of students and teachers kidnapped around two months ago by a terrorist group in Oyo State, Nigeria, have been successfully rescued in a joint security operation, a senior government official said on Friday.

In a post on X, Bayo Onanuga, spokesperson for Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, confirmed that all the students and teachers abducted from the Oriire community had been freed in a rescue operation carried out by various security agencies.

The mass kidnapping occurred on 15 May, when a group of armed men attacked three schools in the Esiele and Yawota communities of the Oriire Local Government Area, Oyo State. Local media reported that 46 people, including 39 students and seven teachers, were abducted. One of the kidnapped teachers died while in captivity.

Authorities identified the attackers as members of the Boko Haram terrorist group who had been displaced from their original area of operations. On Thursday, Defence Minister Christopher Musa stated that the terrorists had demanded the release of several of their commanders from detention in exchange for the hostages. The government publicly rejected those demands.