‘We’ll only talk to govt’ – Oyo school kidnappers reject negotiation with family

By Tolulope Oke

The kidnappers holding the principal of Community High School, Ahoro-Esinle, Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Mrs Rachael Alamu, have reportedly refused to negotiate with her family.

The abductors are said to be insisting on speaking directly with government officials.

Her husband, Professor Wole Alamu, disclosed this while giving an update on his wife’s captivity more than two weeks after she was abducted.

Alamu, a lecturer in the Department of Forest Resources Management, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, said the family had been left helpless because the kidnappers rejected direct negotiations.

According to him, the abductors only communicate through WhatsApp messages.

“The captors said they don’t want to talk to us. They only want to talk to the government, and that is why we are helpless. Anytime they want to communicate, they send messages to me through WhatsApp,” he said.

Mrs Alamu was abducted on May 15 during an attack on the school in Oriire Local Government Area.

The attack reportedly left some teachers dead, while several students and staff members were taken away by the gunmen.

Narrating how he heard about the incident, Professor Alamu said he had left home with his wife that morning as both of them headed to their places of work.

He said he later received a distress call around 9:20 a.m. informing him that his wife had been kidnapped.

“Each time I go to Iseyin, my wife goes to Esele as principal of the school. That morning, after we both left home, I received a call around 9:20 a.m. informing me that she had been kidnapped.

“I rushed back and discovered that some teachers had been killed while many students and teachers were abducted. The Toyota Corolla she used for transportation was also burnt,” he said.

Alamu said the family had not spoken directly with his wife since the abduction.

He added that the only contact they had seen from her came through videos allegedly forced out by her abductors.

“Since May 15, we have not heard from her apart from the videos she was forced to produce by the captors,” he said.

The professor, however, commended the Oyo State Government for its response to the incident.

“We thank the Executive Governor of Oyo State for standing by us. He has not abandoned us in this difficult period,” he stated.

He also disclosed that the WhatsApp numbers used by the kidnappers had been handed over to security agencies, including the Department of State Services, DSS.

“I believe the DSS are working on it,” he said.

Professor Alamu described his wife as a committed educationist who had dedicated herself to serving the rural community despite the distance from her residence to the school.

According to him, she had been travelling about 62 kilometres daily to the school since her deployment in August 2024.

He said his wife had no dispute with anyone in the community and was only interested in contributing to its development.

“My wife did not offend anyone. She only came to contribute to the development of the area,” he said.