Police Reject Ransom Talks for Abducted Oyo Schoolchildren, Vow Safe Rescue

Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu

Police Reject Ransom Talks for Abducted Oyo Schoolchildren, Vow Safe Rescue

DIG Adegoke Fayoade says security agencies working ’round the clock’ to free 46 pupils and teachers taken in Oriire LGA attack.

The Nigeria Police Force has firmly ruled out any form of ransom negotiation for the release of schoolchildren and teachers abducted in Oyo State, insisting that rescue efforts remain the sole priority. The declaration came on Monday, June 22, 2026, from South-West Coordinating Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, during an official working visit to the Lagos State Police Command Headquarters in Ikeja. Addressing reports of ransom demands by the abductors, Fayoade stated categorically that the police do not engage in such discussions. “We don’t know anything about ransom because we don’t talk about ransom. All efforts are directed towards getting the abductees freed safely,” he said. He added that multiple security agencies and government authorities are coordinating operations to secure the victims’ release “within the shortest possible time.”

Fayoade explained that his visit to Lagos was part of efforts to strengthen supervision across police commands in the South-West and assess strategies for addressing emerging security threats. He identified manpower shortage, personnel welfare, and operational logistics as some of the major concerns affecting effective policing, adding that observations from the visit would be forwarded to the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Olatunji Disu, for further action and policy direction. He also confirmed that the recruitment of 40,000 police personnel had commenced.

Fayoade assured Nigerians that security forces are intensifying efforts to rescue the abducted pupils and their teachers, who were taken during an attack on schools in Oriire Local Government Area on May 15, 2026. The attack, which also claimed the life of a mathematics teacher, sparked widespread concern and renewed calls for stronger security measures across the state. “All agencies, including government, are working very hard, and I can assure you that within the shortest possible time, those children and their teachers will be free,” Fayoade said. He noted that the police were investing in technology, data management, and intelligence-led operations, with a data centre at Force Headquarters being completed and officers set to begin courses on the use of Artificial Intelligence in investigations.

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Security sources have indicated that sustained military pressure on the forest where the victims are being held has forced the abductors, suspected to be members of the Ansaru terrorist group, to relax some of their initial demands. The kidnappers had earlier demanded the release of key Ansaru leaders in custody, payment of ransom, provision of two Hilux vehicles, and the implementation of Sharia-related conditions. Sources disclosed that the terrorists are no longer insisting on freeing two prominent Ansaru commanders—Mahmud Usman (also known as Abu Bara’a or Abbas Mukhtar) and his deputy, Abubakar Abba (alias Isah Adam or Mahmud Al-Nigeri)—who were arrested by the Department of State Services last year. The forest where the victims are believed to be held stretches from the Oyo National Park to parts of Kainji in Niger State, and security forces have tightened surveillance around the area.

Multiple security sources revealed that troops and other security personnel involved in the rescue operation have surrounded a hideout within the National Park forest area, where the abducted pupils and teachers are believed to be held. According to security sources, the terrorists have been “effectively contained within the forest,” with security operatives blocking possible escape routes and restricting their movement with the hostages. Investigators believe the leader of the kidnapping gang is a northerner who was born in Ogbomoso and grew up in the Oriire area, giving him familiarity with the terrain. “It is possible that he ran from Kogi when the heat was turned on them before moving to the kidnap of soft targets in Oriire and its environs, which he is familiar with having spent his early life there,” a security source added.

Following mounting pressure and the likelihood of capture, the terrorists have reportedly resorted to desperate tactics, including the recent killing of one of the abducted teachers, apparently in an attempt to blackmail authorities and halt the ongoing rescue operation. The abduction, which involved 39 pupils and six teachers (a seventh teacher was reportedly killed), has left families in anguish as they await news of their loved ones. Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde recently disclosed that a Nigerian Army lieutenant was killed during rescue operations aimed at securing the release of the victims. Addressing protesters in Ibadan, Makinde assured residents that Oyo State would not witness a repeat of the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls’ abduction, promising that authorities were deploying every available resource to resolve the crisis.

For now, security agencies continue to pursue an intelligence-driven rescue operation, while the government insists on a firm stance against ransom payments. The coming days will be critical in determining the fate of the abducted pupils and teachers. Oyo State Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, said the government would continue to restrict public comments on the operation in order to avoid compromising efforts to secure the safe release of the abducted pupils and teachers.