Attack on a school in Nigeria: Children and teachers kidnapped. One hostage brutally killed
Illustration: EPA
ABDUCTION OF 39 students and seven teachers from classrooms in Nigeria's Oyo State has left families in despair. The attack occurred in a part of the country that was until recently considered relatively safe, and such kidnappings, modeled on Chibok, are becoming more frequent, reports The Guardian.
Sitting on a wooden bench under a tree beside her house, Aduke Balogun keeps her eyes fixed on the road. Her eyes are red from crying and sleeplessness. Last month, her daughter, Kehinde Kasosara, was violently taken from school and has not been seen since.
Seven-year-old Kaosara was abducted from the Baptist Children's and Primary School, located across from her home. Armed men in military uniforms and masks stormed into the town of Yawota in Oyo State, southwestern Nigeria, on motorcycles. It was a typical school morning on May 15, until gunfire erupted around 9 a.m. Students and teachers were dragged from classrooms and taken into the forest.
Coordinated attacks occurred in two other towns, including Esinele, a 20-minute drive away, where teacher Joel Adegboye Adesiyan (48) was killed while trying to protect his students. The youngest kidnapped children were only two and three years old.
In total, 39 students and seven teachers, including the principal, were abducted and taken into the vast forest of Old Oyo National Park. Two days after the kidnapping, Michael Oyedokun (57), a mathematics teacher and father of two, was beheaded in captivity. The murder was recorded and posted on social media, sparking outrage across the country. This week, parents and teachers' unions held a protest in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State.
Aduke Balogun, a 35-year-old palm wine seller, moved here from Benin. "I came here to work to earn for my children. And look at what misfortune has befallen me here. How will I explain this to her father?" she says through tears streaming down her cheeks faster than she can wipe them away.
Spread of kidnappings to the south
Local authorities have closed schools across Oyo State. Cheta Nwanze, executive director of SBM Intelligence, a geopolitical risk consulting firm, says the armed attackers are likely remnants of criminal networks that operated in northwestern Nigeria.
School abductions are a tactic used by both ideological and non-ideological terrorist groups, further worsening the security situation in the country. The most famous such case occurred in April 2014, when 276 girls were kidnapped from a school in Chibok. The fate of many of them is still unknown.
Since then, kidnappings have become common, creating a criminal economy in which huge ransoms are paid. According to SBM Intelligence data, kidnappers received about 1.4 million pounds last year.
"I didn't think it was possible here"
Although insecurity in Oyo State is not new, the attack is symptomatic of a new reality in which terrorists now operate in southwestern Nigeria, which until recently was relatively peaceful. Criminals driven out of the north have moved south.
Ladd Serwatt, senior Africa analyst, says: "The significance of the Oyo attack is not that the state suddenly becomes a new hotspot, but in the symbolic breach of security in southwestern Nigeria."
For Ariyike Adeleke (47), whose 14-year-old son Joshua was abducted on May 15, it was a shock because she had only heard about such things in news from the far north. "I was surprised. I don't know what to think because I didn't believe something like that was possible here," she says.
Desperate appeals from captivity
The kidnappers have made contact with Oyo State authorities, who have told families they are doing "everything in human power" to save the victims. But that has not calmed the public. Last week, the kidnappers released a video showing school principal Alamu Folawe kneeling and begging the government to negotiate their release.
"They don't need force, just let them negotiate with them to free us. We are here in the cold, in the sun and in the rain. Both children and adults. Please, I beg you, do not let them destroy our lives. They are becoming impatient and frustrated. Please, help us. I beg you in the name of God. Please, do not leave us, do not forget us in this bush," she said.
Families' suffering
When the state governor visited the town, the husband of the kidnapped principal fell to his knees and tearfully begged him to help find his wife. Ahmed Yusuf, a 35-year-old cassava farmer, is also among the desperate parents. "My son Abdulrahman is often sick and we have to take him to the hospital regularly. I can't even imagine what is happening to him now," he says.
Adijat Aliyu, whose eight-year-old son Muhammed Ibrahim was abducted, says she has been in deep depression since the incident and had to seek medical help. "A dead child whose grave you know is better than a missing child," she says.
State failure and strengthening of gangs
The ruling party won the 2015 elections promising to resolve the security crisis, but the situation has only worsened. Years of activity have strengthened armed groups that, according to analyst Nwanze, adapt faster than the state.
"They exploit weak coordination and porous borders, and the Nigerian state is increasingly unable to fulfill its most basic duty: protecting its own citizens. This erodes public trust and forces communities to negotiate their own security with non-state actors," he explains.
In northern Nigeria, communities already pay taxes and make agreements with armed groups to gain their protection or avoid attacks.
Government response and empty towns
Although Nigeria and the US began a joint operation last year, it is unclear whether this cooperation can solve the problem. Nwanze believes that the partnership with the US can bring tactical gains but not resolve the crisis, as it requires deep governance reforms, economic growth, and political will.
As experts warn that the heaviest burden of the crisis falls on ordinary students, teachers, and farmers, the government has sent the military and police to the affected area and ordered the hiring of 1,000 forest rangers. Despite this, towns are emptying. Most of those remaining are families of victims and local leaders.
"This town was full of people. If you had come before the abduction, you would have seen that this was a lively town," says Adeleke from Esinele, which is now deserted.
In Yawota, Aduke Balogun still waits under the tree, hoping for her daughter's return. "Her younger sister cries every evening since the abduction. Sometimes she refuses to eat and says she will eat only when Kaosara returns."
