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Armed terrorists killed an assistant headmaster, abducted a school principal, five teachers, and an unspecified number of pupils in a coordinated attack on three schools in the Oriire Local Government Area in Oyo State on Friday, throwing entire communities into chaos, residents and officials said.
The attackers struck Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Esiele; and L.A. Primary School around 9 a.m., shortly after pupils had gathered for morning assembly, according to eyewitnesses.
The assailants arrived on motorcycles, shooting sporadically as they entered school premises, and operated in a coordinated manner, striking multiple schools almost simultaneously, residents said.
The Assistant Headmaster of L.A. Primary School, Joel Adesiyan, was killed while trying to escape through a window, witnesses said.
“The assistant head teacher was trying to escape through the window, but he was shot dead,” a resident told Punch.
“The principal and five teachers were kidnapped. They also took several pupils.”
An okada rider who unknowingly rode into the scene was also killed after being caught in crossfire, according to multiple sources.
The abducted victims included the principal of Community Grammar School, Rachael Alamu, alongside five teachers and an unspecified number of pupils, the report said.
The exact number of abducted pupils remained unclear as of Friday night.
The terrorists used the principal’s vehicle to transport some victims out of the community, but the vehicle later developed a mechanical fault while the assailants attempted to escape through difficult terrain, a resident said.
“The schools are very close to each other, so the attack affected both at the same time. They used the principal’s car to move some of the abducted victims, but when the vehicle could not continue, they abandoned it and set it ablaze,” the resident said.
The traditional ruler of the community, the Eleshi Ele of Esiele, Oba Tajudeen Abioye, confirmed that the terrorists arrived on eight motorcycles, each carrying two armed men. He said the attack began while a town meeting was ongoing.
“We were having a town hall meeting when we suddenly heard gunshots. People started running in all directions,” the monarch said. “Later, we discovered they had attacked the schools, killed a teacher and abducted pupils and the principal.”
Oba Abioye lamented that the absence of a nearby police station contributed to the scale of destruction, noting that it took security operatives nearly two hours to arrive after the attack had already been carried out.
“The police station is far from our community. It took them about two hours before they arrived,” he said.
Following the attack, the assailants fled into a nearby forest reserve bordering Oriire communities and the Old Oyo National Park axis. Security agencies, including the police and military, launched a coordinated search-and-rescue operation.
The Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Ayodeji Abimbola, led a team of tactical officers to the area shortly after the incident, according to the report. Military personnel were also deployed to comb the forest in search of the abductors and rescue victims.
The Chairman of the Oriire Local Government Area, Michael Olateju, described the terrain as difficult and remote, which made rapid security response challenging.
“They entered through Yawota. The area is far from the nearest police station. It is not easy to access quickly,” Olateju said.
A former lawmaker representing Oriire Constituency, Bamigboye Abidoye, called for a military post around the areas.
“The bandits attacked the schools on motorcycles. They moved quickly between communities and abducted pupils and teachers,” Abidoye said. “We need a military post around these areas.”
One relative of a missing student told Punch that his 16-year-old niece, a JSS2 student, had remained unaccounted for since she left home for school that morning.
“She left home for school around 7 a.m., and we have not seen her since then,” he said. “She is the daughter of my sister, and the whole family is worried.”
The Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board described the incident as “a dark and painful moment” for the education sector and ordered the temporary closure of schools in Oriire and surrounding local government areas, including Surulere, Oyo East and Olorunsogo, as a precaution.
In a separate incident on Friday, gunmen also attacked a school in Mussa community, near the Sambisa Forest in Borno State, the report said. The Deputy Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdullahi Askira, confirmed the attack but said details were unclear.
“Details of the attack are sketchy, but the information at my disposal is that many of the students fled into the bush,” Askira said. “However, I do not have details of those abducted.”
The Oyo State Police Command confirmed the killing of the assistant headmaster and the motorcyclist but stated that no pupil had been officially confirmed killed as of Friday night. The police also confirmed that abducted victims included both pupils and staff members.
