AHORO-ESIELE SCHOOL ATTACKS: CDWR CALLS ON FEDERAL AND OYO STATE GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE IMMEDIATE FREEDOM OF ABDUCTED TEACHERS, STUDENTS AND OTHERS

We Welcome Independent Protest of Teachers in Oriire Local Government and Call on NUT, NLC and TUC to Organise a Series of Solidarity Actions Until All Victims are Freed!

The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) strongly condemns the brutal invasion of LA Primary School, First Baptist Primary School and Community Grammar School in Ahoro-Esiele, Oriire Local Government Area, Oyo State, where bandits killed a teacher and abducted several pupils, students, teachers and staff. We commiserate with the families of Mr. Michael Oyedokun, who was brutally murdered in captivity, those killed during the attacks on the schools and the security operatives who died during the ongoing rescue operation. We call on both the federal and Oyo state governments to ensure an immediate freedom of everyone who was abducted.

This horrific attack represents yet another tragic reminder of the worsening insecurity ravaging communities across Nigeria and underscores the failure of both the federal government and Oyo state government on security of lives and property. Sadly, it especially shows that the repeated claims by the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde of achievements in security are mere grandstanding. Different alarms had been reportedly raised in the past over the suspected infiltration of Old Oyo National Park by bandits but unfortunately it is not record that anything seriously was done to address the warnings.

While the Oyo State government continues to propagate a narrative of a “safe and secure Oyo State,” the reality confronting teachers, students, and ordinary residents is starkly different. Schools, which should be safe spaces for learning and development, are increasingly becoming hunting grounds for kidnappers and criminal gangs. Teachers who have sacrificed immensely to educate future generations are now forced to work under conditions of fear and uncertainty.

The heart-wrenching videos  released by the bandits, showing a distressed nursing mother identified as a staff member of First Baptist Church, Yawota, alongside Mrs. Racheal Alamu, Principal of Community High School, Esiele, pleading desperately for rescue as well as the brutal murder of Mr Oyedokun, expose the depth of the government’s failure and underscores the urgent need for decisive and coordinated action.

CDWR welcomes and fully supports the courageous and joint decision of teachers, parents and students in  Oriire local government area to embark on strike action and street protests, carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs to demand urgent government intervention. This action must now be intensified and transformed into a state-wide mass action involving the state leadership of Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Nigeria labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), students’ unions, parents’ associations, community organisations, and working people across Oyo State.

Rather than prayer and fasting that the NUT leadership has called for, we hold that  a sustained and organised mass pressure  is needed to compel both the Oyo State Government and federal authorities to act swiftly and decisively to secure the immediate and unconditional release of all abducted teachers, pupils and others.

It is shameful that while  ordinary Nigerians are kidnapped and communities live in fear, self-serving politicians are preoccupied with political calculations, elite power struggles, and scheming ahead of the 2027 elections in order to win the lever of power to continue mass looting and state capture at the expense of the people.

CDWR shares in the pain, grief, and anguish of the families of the abducted persons. We join the growing call for their immediate release and demand adequate compensation, trauma care, and psychological support for all victims and their families. With advances in science, technology, surveillance systems, intelligence gathering, drones, and digital tracking, there can be no acceptable excuse for the prolonged captivity of abducted citizens. The continued delay in rescuing these victims points either to gross incompetence or a troubling unwillingness by authorities to deploy available security resources effectively.

The safety of workers, teachers, students, and ordinary citizens is non-negotiable. Any government that cannot guarantee the security of schools and communities is failing in one of its most fundamental responsibilities.

It is in the light of this we demand:

• The immediate and unconditional rescue and release of all abducted teachers, pupils, and school staff in Oriire Local Government Area.
• Massive security protection for schools across Oyo State, especially in rural and semi-urban communities vulnerable to attacks.
• A public account of billions spent on security votes and the operations of Amotekun, including transparent reporting on how these resources have been used to safeguard lives and communities.
• Democratic and multi-ethnic community-based security measures involving local communities, workers, and residents to ensure schools and neighbourhoods are protected.

Abiodun Bamigboye (Abbey Trotsky)

Oyo State Coordinator of CDWR

E-mail: [email protected]