The principal of the Community Model School, Ahoro-Esinle, in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, has narrated the horrifying ordeal she and other victims endured after they were abducted by armed bandits, revealing how the kidnappers navigated the forests with remarkable precision while forcing their captives to trek for more than four hours under constant threats.
The principal, Mrs. Folawe, who was among the teachers and pupils abducted during the attack on Ahoro-Esinle and neighbouring Yawata communities, said the gunmen appeared to possess an intimate knowledge of every route through the dense forest, frustrating any hope of an immediate rescue.
According to her, the victims were driven relentlessly through the bush, with anyone who slowed down facing intimidation and threats from the heavily armed kidnappers.
“They knew every route in the forest. We walked for more than four hours. Anyone who slowed down was threatened. They moved with confidence as though they owned the forest,” she recounted.
Mrs. Folawe also raised troubling questions over the movement of the vehicle used before the abduction, saying what she later discovered did not correspond with the route taken by the kidnappers.
“What actually happened? I thought they left the car there,” she said.
“I thought the police would have towed the car to their office. But somebody showed me the car where it was going, and that was not the path we took.”
“So I thought they must have driven it to that point before it was touched because that was not the way we followed.”
Her account has fuelled fresh concerns about unanswered questions surrounding the attack and the sequence of events that unfolded after the victims were taken into the forest.
The veteran educator, who has devoted 28 years to the teaching profession, admitted that the traumatic experience has left her deeply shaken and uncertain about returning to serve in remote communities.
Reflecting on her future, she said the incident had fundamentally altered her perception of working in isolated areas.
“Going to a rural area as my place of work… with time, I’ve worked for 28 years, so I have four years left before retirement. Maybe, with time, I can get over it.”
“But going that far, the distance between that place and Ogbomoso is already much. I have always made sacrifices because of transportation. Now, coupled with this experience, I honestly don’t know what will happen.”
Her emotional testimony paints one of the clearest first-hand accounts yet of the brutal conditions endured by the abducted teachers and pupils, exposing the physical exhaustion, repeated forced movement through the forests, fear of death and the deep psychological scars left behind by their captors.
SaharaReporters had reported that the mass abduction sparked nationwide outrage after gunmen invaded Ahoro-Esinle and Yawata communities, seizing schoolchildren, teachers and residents before disappearing into the forests.
A coordinated rescue operation involving the Nigerian Army, the Police, the Western Nigeria Security Network (Amotekun Corps), local hunters and vigilante groups eventually secured the victims’ freedom after days in captivity.
The incident has intensified concerns over the worsening insecurity in rural Nigeria, where schools have increasingly become vulnerable targets for heavily armed criminal gangs seeking ransom.
Meanwhile, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has called on the United Nations and international human rights organisations to conduct an independent investigation into the abduction, insisting that Nigerians deserve a full and transparent account of what transpired, including whether there were institutional failures, negligence or collusion that enabled the attack.
Mrs. Folawe’s testimony has now become a powerful reminder of the human cost of Nigeria’s deepening insecurity, underscoring not only the physical suffering endured by victims but also the lasting emotional trauma that continues long after they regain their freedom.