YAWOTA, Nigeria, June 5 (Reuters) — During a typical morning, Aduke Balogun spotted a masked individual dressed in military clothing approaching her children’s school. Moments afterward, shots rang out, additional armed men emerged, and locals ran for safety.
During the mayhem, her younger daughter Feranmi, age six, managed to get away, but her older child, eight-year-old Kausarat, was among more than 30 pupils and one educator who were captured and taken into the wilderness near Yawota, located in Oyo state in Nigeria’s southwest region.
Online footage showing abducted children has been shared widely, though Balogun finds herself unable to view them, and it remains uncertain whether the videos feature students from the Baptist Nursery and Primary School her daughters attended.
“Every day, I pray and hope for their safe return,” she shared with Reuters while working at her roadside stand selling beverages, bread and snacks positioned across from the educational facility.
The attack on May 15 — along with coordinated strikes on two additional schools in the area — has shocked a territory previously viewed as comparatively secure when measured against more volatile northern regions, raising concerns that ransom-seeking criminal groups are extending their reach well beyond their usual operating zones.
Extensive abduction activities and the growing influence of armed organizations throughout Nigeria — the continent’s most populated nation — are expected to become central concerns leading up to the country’s upcoming national voting in January.
“The Oyo abductions mark a dangerous escalation from a crisis once largely confined to Nigeria’s north and Middle Belt into the southwest,” said Cheta Nwanze, partner at security consultancy SBM Intelligence. “As the 2027 elections approach, Nigerians will judge politicians primarily on whether they can keep classrooms and communities safe.”
EDUCATOR KILLED DURING ESCAPE ATTEMPT
The Nigerian administration has faced ongoing difficulties addressing security concerns for years, dealing with everything from conflicts between herders and farmers in central areas to various bandits, religious extremists and local defense groups operating throughout northern territories.
During this violence, criminal organizations regularly abduct drivers, religious leaders and school students, detaining them until ransom money is provided. SBM Intelligence reported that kidnappers received no less than 2.57 billion naira ($1.89 million) in ransom payments throughout Nigeria during the year ending in June 2025.
Two weeks following the Yawota abductions, school supplies, textbooks, lunch containers, water bottles and children’s shoes remained spread across classroom floors at the Baptist Nursery and Primary School. A police patrol vehicle sat outside, with armed personnel maintaining surveillance beneath a fig tree.
At LA Primary School, located 5 km (3 miles) from where Balogun’s daughter was taken, one educator was fatally shot while attempting to flee through a classroom window during a separate assault, according to Lamidi Waheed, an instructor at the facility.
During the third incident, six additional teachers and seven students were abducted from the Community High School in Ahoro-Esinele, Waheed reported.
Subsequently, online video appeared to show gunmen executing a teacher captured in this assault.
Reuters could not confirm the authenticity of the footage.
Due to security fears and absence of cellular networks for emergency calls, many residents of agricultural communities in Oyo’s Oriire district, approximately 300 km northeast of Lagos, Nigeria’s business center, have evacuated, local chief Tajudeen Abioye informed Reuters.
‘WE WANT OUR CHILDREN BACK’
Upon assuming office three years ago, the president pledged — similar to previous leaders — to address security issues by hiring additional military personnel and police officers, while ensuring better equipment and compensation.
Nevertheless, the Oyo incident, combined with last month’s abduction of 42 school students in the conflict-affected northeastern Borno state, has heightened examination of the administration’s security performance before the 2027 elections.
The current president will pursue reelection and is expected to begin the campaign as the frontrunner since the opposition, headed by rivals Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, continues to be fragmented.
Still, deteriorating security conditions may impact his electoral prospects.
No organization has taken credit for the Oyo incidents, though military officials have attributed them to Boko Haram religious militants, who typically conduct operations in the northeast.
Several security personnel sustained injuries during an initial rescue effort for the children and educators from the Community High School, chief Abioye stated.
Following that incident, officials have established communication with the abductors and eight individuals have been arrested and are assisting authorities, police spokesperson Olayinka Ayanlade reported, declining to provide additional information.
Officials have encouraged families to remain patient and avoid sharing rumors or unconfirmed videos.
Grace Ojo, whose seven-year-old grandchild was taken from the Baptist school, has a simple plea. “We don’t need money, foodstuffs or anything. We just want our children back,” she stated.
($1 = 1,359.5900 naira)
