PHOTOS: Parents wait at LAUTECH to receive rescued Oyo schoolchildren

Parents and relatives of the pupils and teachers abducted from Oriire, Oyo State, are seated on Tuesday at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso, as they wait to receive their children and wards.

The pupils and teachers were taken to the hospital for medical evaluation and psychological support after their rescue, with parents seated at the facility as they waited to receive their wards.

The victims, comprising 39 pupils and seven teachers, including a principal, were abducted on May 15, 2026, when gunmen suspected to be members of Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan, popularly known as Ansaru, simultaneously stormed Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; L.A. Primary School; and Community Grammar School, Ahoro-Esiele, all in Oriire Local Government Area.

PidomNigeriaONLINE reported that the victims regained their freedom on Friday, July 10, 2026, following a military, police and intelligence-driven operation that the Presidency said neutralised some of the terrorists and led to the arrest of eight others.

The Presidency, in a statement by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said no ransom or prisoner exchange was made to secure the release of the victims.

President Tinubu, reacting to the rescue, said, “I am profoundly happy that our security forces successfully rescued the abducted pupils and teachers from Oriire, Ogbomoso, in Oyo State after a military, police and intelligence-driven operation that neutralised some of the terrorists who perpetrated the evil act and led to the arrest of eight of them. My government will get justice for these children and their teachers and for the family of Mr Oyedokun, whom the terrorists gruesomely murdered.”

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, had also expressed relief over the rescue, describing it as a big relief for the state.