Trending 
Nigeria’s presidency on Wednesday moved to counter misinformation surrounding the mass abduction of schoolchildren in Oyo State, revealing that graphic images shared online as proof of their suffering were old photographs taken in Mali and Enugu State.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, said one set of circulating images actually depicted a teacher flogging young students in a Malian classroom in June 2020.
“Some of the Images being shared as those of the kidnapped schoolkids of Oyo state were of maltreated kids in Mali,” Onanuga said in a post on X.
He cited an analysis by Africa54Research, which he said traced the pictures to Mali, where a teacher had flogged his students more than half a decade ago.
Onanuga accused those distributing the images of being “most probably terrorists’ sympathisers, out to sow fears in our society and paint the government and the security forces black.”
Some of the Images being shared as those of the kidnapped schoolkids of Oyo state were of maltreated kids in Mali
Pictures taken in Mali in June 2020, when a teacher flogged his young students, have been shared on social media to make people believe they are the pictures of… pic.twitter.com/gFVhQDqMOv
— Bayo Onanuga, OON, CON (@aonanuga1956) June 3, 2026
A separate false claim was also debunked by Dada Olusegun, special assistant to the president on social media. He responded to a viral photograph showing a child tied to a stone, tracing it back to Enugu State in 2023.
“Make no mistake. These people do not care about the children kidnapped in Oyo,” Olusegun wrote on X.
“For them this is an opportunity to spread as much misinformation in hopes of politicising a sad situation. They are agents of evil and desperate politicians and paid promoters of bandits.”
Make no mistake. These people do not care about the children kidnapped in Oyo. For them this is an opportunity to spread as much misinformation in hopes of politicizing a sad situation. They are agents of evil and desperate politicians and paid promoters of bandits https://t.co/MF9G31RESH
— Daddy D.O🇳🇬 (@DOlusegun) June 3, 2026
The clarifications came as rescue efforts continued for the victims of the May 15 attack on three schools in Oriire Local Government Area, near Ogbomoso in Oyo State.
Gunmen abducted approximately 39 pupils, aged between two and 16, and seven teachers, bringing the total number of victims to around 46. One teacher has been killed in captivity.
The abduction ranks among the first major school mass kidnappings in southwestern Nigeria, a region that had largely been unaffected by the scourge that has plagued the north for years.
The incident has triggered public outrage, protests in several cities, and an indefinite strike by the Oyo State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers.
President Tinubu has condemned the attack and ordered security agencies to intensify rescue operations. He has also approved the recruitment of additional forest guards.
A high-level federal delegation has visited the affected area, while joint operations involving the military, police and local vigilantes are ongoing.
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has met with victims’ families and is involved in efforts to secure the hostages’ release. Families of the kidnapped children and teachers have entered the third week of an agonising wait for news of their loved ones.
