Rescued Oyo principal recounts how kidnappers forced pupils, teachers through nightly treks to evade troops

The principal of Community High School, Ahoro-Esinele, in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Rachael Alamu, has recounted how kidnappers forced abducted pupils and teachers to undertake repeated night-time treks through dense forests for nearly two months as they constantly fled security operatives searching for them.

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Mrs Alamu narrated the ordeal during an interview with journalists at the Oyo State Government House in Ibadan on Monday after she and 43 other victims were formally handed over to the state government following their rescue on 10 July.

She said the abductors frequently relocated the captives whenever they suspected security forces were closing in, forcing even the youngest pupils to endure exhausting journeys through thick forests.

“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 7:00 p.m. or 8:00pm.,” she said.

“Sometimes we walked for three to four hours at night. That is why you can see bruises on our bodies.”

According to her, the repeated movement through the forest became one of the most physically demanding aspects of their 56-day captivity.

While the kidnappers occasionally carried the three youngest children, older pupils were forced to trek long distances despite exhaustion.

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“They carried the youngest three children. The secondary school girls carried some of the smaller pupils, while the others had to walk. We fell many times,” she said.

Mrs Alamu said the captives spent most of their time exposed to harsh weather deep inside the forest.

“We were in the forest, in the open most of the time, under the sun and under the rain with the children. But we kept going because there was no way out. We believed only God could help us, and we also believed people were praying for us,” she said.

First hours to first week in captivity

She revealed that after they were abducted from their schools, the gunmen initially drove them away in her vehicle before abandoning it and leading them deeper into the forest.

The victims first trekked for about an hour before the kidnappers transferred them onto motorcycles for another journey lasting more than four hours through difficult forest terrain.

“We rode motorcycles for more than four hours through difficult terrain, but they knew the forest very well,” she recalled.

Mrs Alamu also revealed that the kidnappers initially provided biscuits to the captives during the first week of their ordeal, but the little food assistance soon stopped as the days stretched into weeks.

Security doubts about remote schools

The experience, she said, has left her uncertain about returning to a remote rural posting despite spending nearly three decades in the teaching profession.

“I have worked for 28 years and have about four years left. Maybe with time I will recover, but returning to such a remote area will take the grace of God,” she said.

Mrs Alamu and more than 40 pupils and teachers regained their freedom after spending 56 days in captivity following their abduction from schools in Oriire Local Government Area in May.

Their rescue came after weeks of coordinated operations involving the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigeria Police Force, the State Security Service (SSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Amotekun Corps, local hunters and vigilantes.

The rescue operation came at a heavy cost. Security personnel and three teachers, including the beheaded mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, lost their lives during the abduction and subsequent rescue efforts.

Following the handover ceremony on Monday, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde said the rescued pupils and teachers would remain under medical observation for 48 hours before reuniting with their families.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the victims had been transferred to the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso for medical evaluation and counselling.