The rescued principal of Community High School in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Mrs. Rachael Alamu, has recounted the harrowing ordeal she and other abductees endured in captivity, revealing that their captors executed two teachers in a bid to pressure the government into meeting their demands.
Speaking to journalists on Monday at the Government House in Ibadan shortly after Governor Seyi Makinde received the survivors, Alamu said the kidnappers believed the killings would force authorities to act swiftly because of the widespread public attention the abduction had attracted.
According to the principal, the two teachers killed during the 56-day captivity were the school’s Mathematics teacher, Mr. Michael Oyedokun, who was reportedly beheaded in the kidnappers’ camp, and Mr. Esiyan Adegboye, 49, who was shot during the initial attack on the school.
Adegboye was later buried in Ogbomoso on May 22.
Alamu described the killings as a deliberate act of psychological warfare aimed at compelling the government to accede to the demands of the kidnappers.
READ ALSO:Oyo school abductions: Tinubu deploys 1,000 forest guards, tactical rescue team
She recalled that despite the victims’ hopes of regaining freedom together, the captors killed Oyedokun on the second day of their abduction and later murdered Adegboye on the first Sunday of June.
“The kidnappers believed that killing some of us would compel the government to provide whatever they wanted because the whole world was watching the incident,” she said.
The principal also recounted the physical and emotional hardships endured by the victims while in captivity, noting that they spent most of their time in the forest without shelter, exposed to harsh weather conditions, including heavy rainfall and intense heat.
Although she was not physically assaulted, Alamu disclosed that the kidnappers frequently beat the younger pupils whenever they cried or became frightened.
She described the experience as deeply traumatic, saying the victims struggled daily to survive and keep the children safe under extremely difficult conditions.
The rescued teachers and pupils, who were handed over to the Oyo State Government by federal authorities, have since been receiving medical treatment and psychosocial support at the Military Hospital in Ibadan.
Their return has attracted visits from top government officials and political leaders, including Governor Seyi Makinde and the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli.
As the survivors begin the process of recovery, Alamu said the emotional scars left by the ordeal would remain with them for a long time.
