A rescued teacher from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Zachery Olatunde, has revealed that the terrorists who held him and 43 other captives for 56 days in the Old Oyo National Park occasionally washed their clothes while they were in captivity.
Olatunde said he decided to speak out to counter claims on social media that the victims appeared too neat after their rescue to have spent several weeks in a kidnappers’ camp.
He made the disclosure in a video shared by Oyo Matters on Thursday, days after he and other abducted teachers and pupils regained their freedom following a security operation.
Speaking in Yoruba, Olatunde explained that the abductors washed the captives’ clothes whenever they became dirty and emitted offensive odours, a development he said had been wrongly interpreted by some online commentators as evidence that the abduction was staged.
He maintained that the teachers looked unkempt after their release, with overgrown beards and rough appearances, insisting that the condition of the victims reflected the hardship they endured during their captivity.
The teacher also dismissed claims that the abduction was stage-managed, stressing that two people lost their lives during the ordeal. He said the experience was traumatic and urged Nigerians to stop spreading false narratives about the incident.
Olatunde further addressed claims that the rescued pupils appeared in matching Ankara outfits after regaining their freedom. He explained that the clothing was in line with the Oyo State Government’s directive for pupils in private primary schools to wear native attire on Fridays, while teachers also dressed in native wear and secondary school students remained in their uniforms.
He appealed to members of the public to disregard claims that the abduction was fabricated, insisting that the victims genuinely endured weeks in captivity.
His comments followed widespread online scepticism after the Presidency announced on July 10 that all 44 pupils and teachers abducted on May 15 from Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School in the Esiele and Yawota communities of Oriire Local Government Area had been rescued.
The victims were abducted on May 15, 2026, when armed men invaded the three schools in the Ahoro-Esiele and Yawota communities near Ogbomoso, taking away 46 pupils and teachers, including school principal Folawe Alamu.
During the attack, the Assistant Headmaster of L.A. Primary School, Joel Adesiyan, was killed while attempting to escape.
A few days into the captivity, a Mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, was reportedly beheaded by the abductors.
The victims regained their freedom on July 10 following a coordinated operation involving the Nigerian Army, the Police, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Amotekun Corps and local vigilante groups.
The Presidency maintained that no ransom was paid and no concession was granted to secure the release of the captives.
(Punch)