A harsh reckoning seems to be dawning on Yorubaland as the level of insecurity that popular agitator, Sunday Igboho, claimed to be trying to avert has turned a sour reality.
As had been happening in the North and Kwara, terrorists invaded three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on Friday and abducted 45 pupils.
The schools attacked were Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Esiele; and L.A. Primary School.
This has led to fear and panic among parents and other loved ones of the victims.
While Igboho, who had brushes with the Buhari government after tackling aggressor herdsmen in Oyo North, to the extent of going on exile and facing jail in Benin Republic has yet to react to the abduction, security agencies are said to have surrounded the possible escape routes of the assailants.
This is after they fled into a nearby forest reserve bordering Oriire communities and the Old Oyo National Park axis.
On its part, the Oyo State Government said the suspected kidnappers involved in the Friday attack had been confined within the National Park axis.
The state Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, said security operatives had surrounded the area and restricted the suspects’ movement.
Oyelade explained that the Nigerian Army, Civil Defence Agro Rangers, and the Nigeria Police Force, with officers from the Monitoring Unit, were mobilised to commence rescue operations.
He added that the Commissioner of Police, Ayodeji Abimbola, was coordinating the rescue operation with his counterpart in Kwara State, with both commands agreeing to strengthen surveillance and ensure that any suspect attempting to cross state boundaries would be apprehended.
Oyelade noted that patrol operations commenced on Saturday after intelligence indicated that the suspects remained within the National Park in Oyo State.
He disclosed that three separate patrol teams comprising Amotekun operatives and hunters drawn from seven local government areas in Oke-Ogun were deployed through Igbeti towards Oloka and adjoining communities.
While noting that there had been no direct contact with the abductors so far, the statement said authorities were focused on establishing the exact number of pupils affected, as school authorities had yet to provide accurate records of missing children.
“This has made the rescue operation more difficult. What we are trying to do now is locate their position and apply pressure,” he said.
