EXCLUSIVE: How Oyo School ∆bductors Wore Army Uniforms, F0rced Principal To Drive Pupils Into F0rest In Stolen Car

Speaking with SaharaReporters, Ojo gave a chilling account of how the attackers stormed schools in Esiele and Yawota communities, opening fire indiscriminately while terrified pupils and teachers scrambled for safety.
A distraught farmer, Micheal Ojo, whose four children, daughter-in-law and grandchild were abducted during the recent attacks on schools in Oyo State, has narrated to SaharaReporters how heavily armed terrorists invaded the two rural communities, shot residents and forced dozens of pupils deep into a forest reserve during the coordinated attacks.

Speaking with SaharaReporters, Ojo gave a chilling account of how the attackers stormed schools in Esiele and Yawota communities, opening fire indiscriminately while terrified pupils and teachers scrambled for safety.

According to him, the attack on the secondary school in Esiele turned deadly immediately when the gunmen arrived.

“The principal of the community secondary school is a woman. When the kidnappers entered the school, they killed one primary school teacher while people were running everywhere in panic,” Ojo said.

He explained that after overpowering the school, the gunmen assembled the children and forced the female principal to drive them into the forest using her Corolla car.

“After gathering the children, they forced the principal to drive her Corolla car while they packed the children inside the vehicle. That was how they moved the children into the forest reserve,” he said.

“After that community, there is no settlement again until deep inside the reserve. That is how massive the forest is.”

Ojo further revealed that the attackers who invaded Yawota community disguised themselves in military uniforms to deceive residents before launching the assault.

“For Yawota community, the kidnappers were about eight in number. Some wore army uniforms while two others wore jalabiya,” he said.

“The whole community was quiet because most residents had already gone to their farms. Suddenly, we started hearing loud gunshots from inside the primary school.”

He recounted how a local tailor became one of the earliest victims of the bloody attack.

“One commercial motorcyclist brought a tailor to the school because he usually sews clothes for the pupils,” Ojo narrated.

“The motorcyclist parked his bike and stepped down to greet some friends in front of the school. The tailor even warned him not to go far because he would finish quickly.

“But as he attempted to run after the shooting started, the gunmen shot him dead. His head was shattered by the gunshots.

The grieving grandfather said while some older pupils escaped by jumping through windows, several others were captured as the gunmen selected victims and forced them into the bush at gunpoint.

“When the kidnappers selected the children they wanted to take, some of the older children jumped through the windows and escaped. But not all of them succeeded because some were caught while trying to escape,” he said.

“As they marched the children away alongside my daughter-in-law, the kidnappers kept shouting at them to run while firing gunshots into the air. They followed the children closely from behind.”

According to Ojo, the intensity of the gunfire kept terrified residents trapped inside their homes throughout the operation.

“Even those of us inside our houses that morning could not come out because of the shooting,” he said.

“The kidnappers took the children through a bush path connecting back to Esiele community.”

He added that the attackers also stole motorcycles belonging to villagers as they retreated into the forest.

“Any motorcycle they found on the road, they took it away. They even stole the vulcaniser’s motorcycle parked directly opposite my house,” he added.