Oriire kidnapping: Pupils suffered physical assault, instructors restrained — Alamu, School Principal

Mrs Racheal Alamu, the principal who was abducted alongside teachers, students, and pupils in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, recounted her 56-day ordeal in captivity, revealing that children were beaten into silence, male teachers were chained and blindfolded, and victims were forced to undertake midnight treks through forests to evade security operatives.

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Alamu spoke after she and the rescued teachers and pupils were officially handed over to Governor Seyi Makinde at the Governor’s Office, Secretariat in Ibadan, describing life in captivity as a struggle to keep the children alive and emotionally stable in the open forest, exposed to harsh weather conditions.

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She said the victims spent most of the 56 days in the forest, under the sun and rain, with the children, and although she was not physically assaulted, several younger pupils endured severe beatings whenever they cried or made noise, with the youngest children suffering the most.

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The male victims suffered harsher treatment, according to Alamu, who stated that they were blindfolded, handcuffed, and chained on their legs, but despite the harsh conditions, none of the victims was sexually molested during the period in captivity, as she emphasized, "There was no form of molestation".

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The kidnappers constantly relocated the captives whenever they feared their hideouts had been discovered by security forces, forcing adults and children to embark on exhausting nighttime journeys through difficult terrain, with Alamu explaining that they usually started walking around seven or eight at night, sometimes for three to four hours.

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The victims were initially transported deeper into the forest after the abduction, with Alamu's car used to convey them to a point where they met the primary school pupils and their teacher, and from there, they walked for about one hour before motorcycles were brought, with about 10 motorcycles used to move them for more than four hours through bush paths.

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Reflecting on the impact of the experience on her teaching career, Alamu admitted that returning to remote rural postings would now require enormous courage, having worked for 28 years and with just four years to retire, saying, "Going to rural areas now will take the grace of God."

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A relative of one of the pupils rescued after spending 56 days in captivity revealed that the children survived mainly on cocoyam and noodles while drinking water from a nearby waterfall deep inside the Oyo National Forest, where they were held by Ansaru terrorists, with the relative, Olasunbo, describing her nephew's ordeal.

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Olasunbo said her nephew told them they survived mostly on cocoyam and noodles throughout their time in the forest, sometimes eating only once a day and drinking water from a waterfall near where they were kept, and expressing gratitude to God for the rescue, she said, "As a family, we are grateful to God and to all the security personnel who risked their lives to rescue them."

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The rescue operation involved personnel drawn from the Defence Headquarters, the Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, the National Counter Terrorism Centre, NCTC, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service, SBS, the Nigerian Air Force, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, DSS, and other members of the Joint Interagency Task Force, with the operation involving weeks of painstaking intelligence gathering and coordinated operations.

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Security sources revealed that at least two rescue operations were carried out before the pupils and teachers were eventually freed last Friday, with one security source explaining that an early breakthrough came after security operatives used ransom negotiations as bait to expose members of the terrorists’ network, leading to the arrest of one suspect and the obtaining of invaluable intelligence.

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The information obtained from the suspect enabled security agencies to map the terrorists’ supply routes and gradually cut off their logistics, according to the source, who added that another security source disclosed that the initial rescue effort involved a direct military offensive aimed at locating and rescuing the abducted pupils and teachers.

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Troops engaged the terrorists in a fierce gun battle deep inside the forest, but the operation came at a high cost, with some security personnel losing their lives in the exchange, including Lt. Felix Ademe Isaac, a 28-year-old Nigerian Army officer whose courage at the outset of the operation was described as instrumental to the mission’s eventual success.

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Lt. Isaac was laid to rest with full military honours last Friday, the same day the rescued pupils and teachers regained their freedom after 56 days in captivity, with military sources saying he led the initial assault team into the forest, firing the first shots as troops attempted to breach the terrorists’ position, and his convoy struck improvised explosive devices, IEDs, planted by the terrorists, resulting in his death.

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Although he did not live to witness the successful rescue, colleagues said his sacrifice, along with those of other fallen security personnel, laid the foundation for the intelligence-led operation that ultimately secured the victims’ safe return, with a military source saying the setback prompted security commanders to reassess their strategy, shifting from a largely kinetic approach to a more intelligence-driven operation.

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The operation combined surveillance, inter-agency coordination, sustained pressure, and the disruption of the terrorists’ logistics and support network, a strategy that ultimately paved the way for the safe recovery of the hostages, with multiple security sources explaining that the abductors chose an extremely secluded location within the vast Oyo National Forest.

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The pupils and teachers were kept in a concealed shelter close to a flowing stream deep inside the rugged terrain, with the thick vegetation covering the area posing a major challenge to rescue efforts, as it significantly limited the effectiveness of aerial surveillance and other technological assets deployed to track the terrorists.

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Vanguard gathered that investigators eventually recorded a breakthrough through intelligence gathering and communication interceptions, with the terrorists periodically moving to locations where they could access communication signals, inadvertently creating opportunities for security operatives to monitor their activities and narrow down their whereabouts.

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Armed with the fresh intelligence, security agents pushed deeper into the forest, relying heavily on local guides and hunters familiar with the terrain, with the operatives reportedly trekking for between eight and 10 hours, covering long distances through difficult and largely inaccessible terrain before reaching areas suspected to be the terrorists’ hideouts.

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Retired senior military officers have commended the Nigerian Armed Forces and other security agencies for the successful rescue of the 39 pupils and seven teachers, describing the operation as a testament to the growing synergy among Nigeria’s security and intelligence agencies, with Brig. Gen. O. Adegbesan (retd) saying the operation demonstrated that complex hostage rescue missions require "unity of purpose, intelligence sharing and disciplined execution".

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Another retired senior military officer, Danjuma Saidu, said the operation underscored the importance of allowing security agencies to work quietly without unnecessary public pressure, saying, "People often expect dramatic gun battles, but hostage rescue operations are different, the first priority is preserving innocent lives, sometimes patience achieves what force alone cannot."

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The retired generals also dismissed persistent claims on social media that a ransom was paid to secure the release of the victims, with one of them describing the speculation as unfounded, arguing that if such a payment had indeed been made, credible evidence would likely have surfaced by now.

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Security analysts said the successful rescue has become one of the clearest examples in recent years of how coordinated intelligence, inter-agency cooperation, and carefully calibrated military operations can achieve results without exposing hostages to unnecessary danger, while paying tribute to the officers and men who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.