Hundreds of teachers and civil society activists flooded the streets of Ibadan on Friday in a rare and emotionally charged demonstration, calling on the Oyo State government to redouble its efforts to rescue a group of teachers and young schoolchildren still held captive nearly two weeks after their abduction in the Ogbomoso area.
The protest, organized by the Oyo State Teachers Action Group and bolstered by the Nigeria Teachers Congress (NTC), drew attention to what demonstrators described as an unacceptable threat to the safety of public school workers and their pupils across the state.
Marching peacefully through the Oyo State capital, the protesters carried placards and chanted appeals for government action, their mood a mixture of grief, solidarity, and thinly veiled frustration.
The victims, comprising teachers and schoolchildren, were abducted on May 15 from the Esiele and Yawota communities in Oriire Local Government Area, an incident that has left families, colleagues, and education workers in a state of profound anxiety. No group has publicly claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, and the identities of the perpetrators remain unclear.
Perhaps the most harrowing revelation to emerge from the demonstration came from the NTC’s national president, Reverend Bunmi Thomas, who painted a deeply distressing picture of the conditions the victims were believed to be enduring.
“We have children as young as two and three years old in the bush. They are exposed to rain and harsh weather conditions. These victims are in danger, and nobody knows who could be next,” he told the crowd, his words drawing audible reaction from those gathered.
Thomas stressed that the NTC had thrown its weight behind the protest not to antagonize the state government, but to ensure the moral pressure on authorities remained unrelenting. “When we heard about the proposed protest by the Oyo State Teachers Action Group, we were satisfied and decided to join them because what they are doing is lawful,” he said.
While acknowledging that efforts were reportedly underway to secure the victims’ release, Thomas insisted that the pace and scale of those efforts were insufficient given the urgency of the situation. “If the government is trying and the desired result has not been achieved, then more efforts must be intensified,” he declared.
The union leader also raised a broader concern: that public school teachers across Oyo State were increasingly working in an atmosphere of fear. He called on Governor Seyi Makinde’s administration to deploy security personnel to all government schools, warning that the status quo was unsustainable. “We cannot continue to work while living in danger,” he said plainly.
Despite the intensity of the grievances on display, both protest leaders and government representatives took pains to frame the demonstration as cooperative rather than confrontational.
Thomas was emphatic that the action was not an indictment of Governor Makinde’s overall performance. “No reasonable teacher in Oyo State is against Governor Seyi Makinde because he has performed excellently well.
“However, we need regular updates on efforts being made to rescue our teachers and students,” he said in a statement that underscored the delicate balance the protesters were attempting to strike between civic pressure and political goodwill.
The government’s response arrived in the form of retired Commissioner of Police Sunday Odukoya, who serves as the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Security Matters.
Odukoya acknowledged the protesters’ constitutional right to demonstrate and offered assurances that the government was actively engaged in rescue efforts, though he declined to reveal operational details, citing the risk of compromising ongoing activities.
“Since this incident happened, Governor Seyi Makinde has been on top of the situation. I have personally visited the area several times, and both the traditional ruler in Esiele and residents of Yawota can attest to the government’s efforts,” he said.
He also moved to allay fears that protesters might face reprisals, stating categorically: “Governor Seyi Makinde believes strongly in the rule of law. No teacher involved in this protest will be victimized. That has never happened under this administration, and it will not happen.”
Despite the official reassurances, the protesters left Ibadan with their core demand unmet: the safe return of the abducted teachers and pupils. As of Friday, the victims remained in captivity, and no timeline for their release had been publicly indicated.
The kidnapping is the latest in a series of security incidents involving schools and education workers in Nigeria’s South-West, a region that, while historically less affected by mass abductions than the North, has seen a troubling uptick in targeted attacks in recent years.
For many of the teachers who marched on Friday, the demonstration was not merely about the victims in Ogbomoso; it was about the normalization of fear in a profession that should know only classrooms and corridors.
“We are not against the government, but we are appealing to its moral conscience,” the group said in a statement. “The government must intensify efforts and ensure the safe return of the kidnapped teachers and pupils.”
The children remain unaccounted for.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Teachers and civil society groups in Oyo State took to the streets of Ibadan on Friday to demand the urgent rescue of teachers and young pupils, some as young as two years old, abducted from Ogbomoso communities on May 15.
While the state government insists efforts are underway, nearly two weeks in captivity with no confirmed timeline for release tells a more urgent story.
The children are being held in the bush, exposed to the elements, and the clock is ticking. Assurances are not enough; what is needed is action, and it is needed now.
