Full Breakdown
May 15 School Kidnappings Expose Expanding Nigerian Security Crisis
6/6/2026, 12:27:15 AM
May 15 School Kidnappings in Oyo and Borno
On 15 May 2026 gunmen assaulted three schools in Oriire LGA of Oyo State—Baptist Nursery and Primary School (Yawota), Community Grammar School (Esiele) and L.A. Primary School (Ahoro-Esinele)—and three schools in Askira-Uba LGA of Borno State. In Oyo, at least 39 pupils and seven teachers were seized; a teacher was shot while fleeing and another later appeared in a beheading video. In Borno, more than 50 children were abducted, two of whom escaped.
Scale of the Abductions
The Oyo raids seized at least 39 children and seven teachers; the Borno attacks took more than 50 children. Nationwide ransom payments hit 2.57 billion naira (? US$1.89 million) in the year to June 2025. Security forces deployed 1,000 forest guards to Oyo and detained eight suspects.
Government Response
President Bola Tinubu pledged more soldiers, police and 1,000 forest guards for Oyo. Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, Defence Minister Christopher Musa and Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu visited the sites, saying they will do “whatever it takes” to secure releases. Senate President Godwill Akpabio called the abductions “an assault on our collective humanity.”
Political and Civil Society Opposition
Lawmakers condemned the kidnappings and demanded security reforms. The Nigeria Union of Teachers staged a nationwide strike and protests, demanding immediate rescue of pupils and teachers. The Christian Association of Nigeria called for three-day national mourning and a state of emergency, calling the attacks “barbaric acts of murder, beheading, torture, rape, abduction and forced displacement.”
Eyewitness Accounts
Teacher Lamidi Waheed said a teacher was shot while escaping through a classroom window. Mother Grace Ojo said her family only wants the children returned, not money or supplies. Local chief Tajudeen Abioye reported farming families fleeing the Oriire district due to the attacks and lack of mobile-phone coverage.
Verbatim Quotes
- “The Oyo abductions mark a dangerous escalation from a crisis once largely confined to Nigeria's north and Middle Belt into the southwest,” — Cheta Nwanze, SBM Intelligence
- “We don't need money, foodstuffs or anything. We just want our children back,” — Grace Ojo, Grandmother
- “We share for your pains and agonies. Di perpetrators of dis dastardly act dey evil. Di federal govment go make sure say we go bring dis inglorious act to end nationwide,” — Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser
- “We resume our work under di mournful shadow of a tragedy wey don shake our nation.” — Godwill Akpabio, Senate President
Prospects for Rescue
Security forces are negotiating with the eight detained suspects while forest guards and the special rescue unit intensify forest searches. The NUT plans further demonstrations, and the Senate will hold a hearing on security reforms within weeks. A decision on a state of emergency remains pending.
