President Bola Tinubu approved a package of emergency security measures for Oyo State on Monday, June 15, 2026, as the crisis of over 40 pupils and teachers abducted from three primary schools in Oriire Local Government Area entered its fifth week, with no confirmed rescue breakthrough and families growing increasingly desperate.
The Presidency confirmed the measures, which included the deployment of a specialised tactical security unit to Oyo State, the approval of 1,000 local forest guards to strengthen intelligence in forest communities, and the provision of additional surveillance technology to support ongoing rescue operations. Inspector-General of Police Tunji Disu was personally directing a technology-driven operation targeting the abductors.
Governor Seyi Makinde said intelligence-led negotiations were running in parallel with military and police operations, adding that the government was carefully balancing operational aggression with the need to ensure the safety of the hostages. ‘We are not resting until our children and teachers are home,’ Makinde said.
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Ohanaeze, CAN Demand Immediate Action
The apex Igbo socio-political organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, demanded the immediate rescue of the abducted students and teachers, expressing solidarity with the families and calling on the federal government to treat the crisis with greater urgency. The Christian Association of Nigeria also reiterated its call for decisive action, with CAN’s national president saying the children’s continued captivity was an affront to the conscience of the nation.
Furthermore, the Nigeria Union of Teachers’ indefinite strike in Oyo State, now in its third week, continued to shut hundreds of schools across the state, causing significant disruption to the academic calendar. The union said it would not call off the strike until the abducted teachers were released and the government provided credible security guarantees for school workers across Oyo.
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Meanwhile, political opposition figures maintained pressure on the Tinubu administration, with Omoyele Sowore demanding that the Oyo school abduction victims be rescued within 24 hours or Tinubu should resign from office. Sowore made the demand during the Democracy Day protest in Abuja, where police fired teargas to disperse demonstrators. However, the Presidency rejected the ultimatum, saying the government was fully engaged in pursuing a safe resolution. Notably, the Oriire abduction has now spent five weeks in the national news cycle, making it one of the longest running unresolved kidnapping crises in recent Nigerian memory. Consequently, the weight of public expectation on the government grows heavier with each passing day.
FCT Police Arrest Kidnap Gang Informant
In related security news, the FCT Police Command arrested a suspected informant linked to kidnapping gangs along with four other suspects as part of ongoing operations targeting criminal networks involved in kidnapping and banditry across the territory. The informant was said to have been providing gang members with intelligence about the movements of potential targets in and around Abuja. In addition, Kwara State Police launched a statewide crackdown on vehicles with fake or obscured number plates as part of security tightening measures.
