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Nigeria’s military has confirmed that security personnel suffered casualties during the operation that secured the release of more than 40 schoolchildren and staff abducted in Oyo State, as authorities provided new details about the month-long mission.
The pupils and teachers were rescued on Friday after spending nearly two months in captivity following their abduction from three schools in the Oriire Local Government Area of the state. The incident had drawn national attention, becoming one of the most significant security challenges recorded in Nigeria’s relatively safer southwest region.
In a statement on Saturday, the Nigerian Army said the rescue operation was carried out through a “carefully planned and executed” effort involving intelligence agencies, the police and local vigilante groups.
“However, there were some casualties on the part of the security forces,” the army said, without disclosing further details about the number or circumstances of those affected.
The abduction had raised concerns across the country, with authorities linking the attackers to terrorist elements, although the specific group responsible has not been confirmed. The attack marked a rare expansion of mass kidnapping tactics, which have largely been associated with Nigeria’s northern regions, where insurgent groups and armed criminal gangs have carried out repeated abductions.
The incident in Oyo triggered nationwide reactions, including protests, a statewide teachers’ strike and calls for stronger measures to protect schools and communities. It also came months before Nigeria’s 2027 presidential election, placing security issues firmly in the national conversation.
Defence Minister Christopher Musa had earlier said the kidnappers attempted to use the students as “leverage” against the government, warning that they threatened to harm the hostages if security forces advanced on their locations.
However, the military said its operations focused on dismantling the wider criminal network behind the abduction. According to the army, troops targeted several hideouts within the forests of the Old Oyo National Park, while arrests made across different parts of the country helped weaken the group.
The military said these actions “completely disorganised the group” and created pressure that eventually led to the “unconditional release” of the pupils and teachers.
Mass school kidnappings have remained a major security challenge in Nigeria, with armed groups using abductions to demand ransom payments and other concessions. The country’s most notorious case remains the 2014 abduction of 276 schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Chibok, Borno State.
Recent large-scale kidnappings in Kebbi and Niger states have continued to draw attention to the persistent threat facing students and communities across Nigeria.
