The 44 pupils and teachers rescued from kidnappers after spending 56 days in captivity have started reuniting with their families following their discharge from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso, ending about two-months of anxiety for relatives who had feared they might never see their loved ones alive again.
Emotional scenes unfolded on Tuesday evening at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital facility where the victims had been receiving treatment and psychosocial support since their rescue, as parents, siblings and relatives broke into joyous tears while embracing the returning children.
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Hospital officials coordinated the discharge process, calling out the names of the rescued pupils one after another as anxious family members stepped forward to receive them. TVCNews reported that 31 victims have been discharged, while one is being diagnosed with a heart defect.
Among those reunited with their families were Testimony, Aliyu Ahmed, Abati Elizabeth and Adeleke Joshua, whose names echoed through the hall before emotional relatives rushed forward with tears, prayers and thanksgiving.
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In one of the circulating videos, one mother, overwhelmed with emotion after embracing her daughter, Testimony, thanked God and security agencies for bringing her child home alive.
“God of heaven and earth, I thank God, Governor Seyi Makinde, Tinubu, Army, vigilantes and those that support us with prayers,” she said,
The reunions came a day after the victims were formally handed over to the Oyo State Government by the Nigerian military following their rescue during a coordinated security operation involving the Nigerian Army, Air Force, Police, the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Amotekun Corps, local hunters and vigilantes.
The victims had remained under medical observation for 24 hours before being discharged to reunite with their families.
The rescue ended Oyo State’s most traumatic school kidnapping incidents, which happened on 15 May when gunmen abducted pupils and teachers from Community High School, Ahoro-Esinele; Primary School, Esinele; and Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, all in Oriire Local Government Area.
Speaking after the handover on Monday, the principal of Community High School in Esinele in Oriire Local Government Area, Rachael Alamu, described the 56 days in captivity as a nightmare marked by fear, hunger and constant movement through dense forests.
She said the abductors repeatedly relocated the captives at night whenever they suspected security operatives were closing in.
“There were times we had to move from one place to another. Once they believed the place had been discovered, we would start moving around 7:00pm or 8:00pm. Sometimes we walked for three to four hours at night,” she recalled.
Mrs Alamu also revealed that the younger children were repeatedly beaten by the kidnappers, while the male captives were blindfolded, handcuffed and chained.
She said the abductors deliberately killed two teachers including mathematics teacher Michael Oyedokun, whose beheading was later circulated in a viral video in an attempt to pressure the government into yielding to their demands.
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“They killed them purposely because they thought it would force the government to provide them whatever they wanted,” she said.
Despite the trauma, Mrs Alamu said faith sustained both teachers and pupils throughout the ordeal. “We have scars already, but we believe it is now time to heal,” she said.
The rescue operation, though successful, came at a heavy cost, with two teachers and security personnel losing their lives during efforts to free the captives.
Authorities have vowed to sustain operations against criminal gangs operating in forests across Oyo State while providing continued medical and psychological support for the rescued victims.
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