Teachers in several public schools across Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on Monday staged a peaceful protest over the abduction of their colleagues and students by suspected gunmen.
The demonstrators gathered early in the day carrying placards and singing solidarity songs while urging the government and security agencies to intensify efforts to rescue the victims.
Some of the placards displayed messages such as “Their deaths demand action,” “Say their name, remember their sacrifice,” and “Noble teachers gone too soon.”
The protest followed Friday’s attack by armed men on motorcycles who reportedly stormed communities within the Ahoro-Esiele and Yawota axis of Ogbomoso. During the invasion, students and staff members of Community High School, Ahoro-Esiele, L.A. Primary School, Esiele, and Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School were abducted.
The incident also claimed the lives of an assistant headmaster, Joel Adesiyan, and a commercial motorcyclist.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, had earlier confirmed that seven teachers were kidnapped, while authorities were still working to determine the exact number of missing pupils.
According to the governor, a video later received by the state government confirmed that one of the abducted teachers, identified as a mathematics teacher, had been killed by the attackers.
Meanwhile, the spokesperson of the Oyo State Police Command, DSP Ayanlade Olushola Olayinka, said the police were aware of a viral video showing some of the abducted victims pleading for help and had already launched an investigation into the incident.
