IBADAN, NIGERIA — Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has announced that his administration is open to engaging in dialogue with the armed bandits responsible for the mass abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in the Oriire Local Government Area last Friday.
Speaking during a high-level security briefing with journalists in Ibadan on Monday, May 18, 2026, Governor Makinde clarified that while his administration will firmly “not surrender to terror,” it is prepared to listen to the grievances or demands of the abductors if it guarantees the swift, unharmed release of the victims.
The Scale of the Oriire Assault
The coordinated raid, which occurred in the early hours of Friday, May 15, 2026, targeted three educational institutions in the remote Ogbomoso-axis communities of Ahoro-Esinele, Yawota, and Esiele.
Governor Makinde provided a definitive breakdown of the casualties and missing persons:
- Community Secondary School (Esiele): 7 students abducted.
- First Baptist Primary and Nursery School (Yawota): 18 children and 7 teachers abducted.
- Fatalities: One teacher was killed during the assault.
”Whatever it is they demand, we are ready to listen to them and address the ones that we can address as a state government. But the children and their teachers must be released,” Makinde stated, adding that the state has set up a dedicated operational command centre at the Oyo State Police Headquarters to handle the critical situation.
Federal Intervention and State Police Renewed Push
The gravity of the mass kidnapping has reverberated all the way to Abuja. President Bola Tinubu strongly condemned the attack, describing the murder of the schoolteacher as “barbaric.”
The Presidency confirmed that Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Olatunji Rilwan Disu has been ordered to personally lead a high-tech, intelligence-driven search-and-rescue operation. Alongside the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, and his Kwara State counterpart, Ojo Adekimi, security agencies have pinned down the terrorists’ movements to the expansive Old Oyo National Park forest reserve.
In light of the crisis, President Tinubu also renewed his advocacy for decentralised policing:
”Cases of kidnapping further make imperative the establishment of state police to man some of our underserved areas. The National Assembly should accelerate the enactment of the law creating state police.”
Surveillance Aircraft and Border Control Measures
Addressing the public anxiety and prior scrutiny regarding the state’s security investments, Governor Makinde revealed that Oyo State’s long-awaited surveillance aircraft have arrived in Nigeria. The hardware is currently stationed at the Nigerian Air Force Base in Lagos under reassembly by technical experts from China.
The governor projected that these air assets will be fully operational on or before the end of June 2026.
The deployment of these aircraft is expected to permanently reinforce the highly vulnerable Oyo-Kwara boundary as well as the international border corridor separating Oyo State from the Republic of Benin.
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”The operation is still ongoing. Yes, it is still a very fluid and difficult situation that our troops on the ground are faced with,” Makinde added, appealing to the media to avoid sensationalist reporting while lives hang in the balance.
Following the unprecedented security breach, the Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (OYOSUBEB) has temporarily shut down schools across the affected axis of Oriire Local Government Area to preempt further incursions.
