{"id":100277,"date":"2026-09-17T18:31:24","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T18:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=100277"},"modified":"2026-09-17T18:31:24","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T18:31:24","slug":"orire-school-abduction-victim-describes-56-days-of-torture-hunger-in-captivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=100277","title":{"rendered":"Orire\u00a0School Abduction: Victim\u00a0Describes 56 Days\u00a0of Torture, Hunger\u00a0in Captivity"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Yemi Oyeyemi<\/strong>, Abuja.<\/p>\n

A witness in\u00a0the trial of\u00a0five alleged members\u00a0of the Jama\u2019atu\u00a0Ansarul Muslimina Fi\u00a0Biladis Sudan (Ansaru) on Thursday gave\u00a0the Federal High\u00a0Court in Abuja\u00a0a harrowing account\u00a0of the 56\u00a0days she and\u00a0other abducted pupils\u00a0and teachers spent\u00a0in captivity in\u00a0Oyo\u00a0State.<\/p>\n

The witness, identified\u00a0only as\u00a0AAA\u00a0for security reasons, told Justice Salim\u00a0Ibrahim that the\u00a0captives were moved\u00a0between six different\u00a0locations in the\u00a0forest, often barefoot\u00a0and exposed to\u00a0rain and intense\u00a0heat.<\/p>\n

She said the\u00a0victims endured severe\u00a0hunger, inadequate water\u00a0and unhygienic conditions\u00a0before security forces\u00a0eventually rescued them.<\/p>\n

The witness was\u00a0testifying for the\u00a0Department of State\u00a0Services (DSS) in\u00a0the trial of\u00a0five men accused\u00a0of involvement in\u00a0the May 15, 2026 abduction of\u00a0schoolchildren and teachers\u00a0in Oriire Local\u00a0Government Area of\u00a0Oyo State. The\u00a0defendants pleaded not\u00a0guilty to the\u00a0amended seven-count\u00a0terrorism charge.<\/p>\n

According to earlier\u00a0accounts of the\u00a0incident,\u00a0armed men attacked\u00a0three schools in\u00a0the Ahoro-Esiele\u00a0and Yawota communities\u00a0of Oriire on\u00a0May 15, taking\u00a0pupils and teachers\u00a0into the surrounding\u00a0forest.<\/p>\n

The schools were\u00a0Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and\u00a0Primary School, and\u00a0L.A. Primary\u00a0School.<\/p>\n

Earlier reports established\u00a0the number abducted\u00a0at\u00a046 \u2014 39 pupils\u00a0and seven teachers. The victims included\u00a0very young children, with reports indicating\u00a0that a toddler\u00a0was among those\u00a0taken.<\/p>\n

AAA, however, told\u00a0the court that\u00a049 students and\u00a0teachers\u00a0were held during\u00a0the ordeal.<\/p>\n

She said the attackers arrived on motorcycles, shooting sporadically and preventing those inside the schools from escaping. According to her testimony, alleged that the defendants were involved in a wider plot connected to the proscribed terrorist organisation. The amended\u00a0 charge before the court alleges that the May about 12 motorcycles were used, with some victims also transported in a teacher\u2019s Toyota car.<\/p>\n

\u2018We were held\u00a0to secure release\u00a0of Ansaru members\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The witness said\u00a0that after taking\u00a0the victims into\u00a0the bush, the\u00a0kidnappers’ leader told\u00a0them they were\u00a0not being held\u00a0primarily for ransom.<\/p>\n

Rather, she said, the kidnappers wanted\u00a0the government to\u00a0facilitate the release\u00a0of detained members\u00a0of Ansaru.<\/p>\n

The prosecution has alleged that the defendants were involved in a wider plot connected to the proscribed terrorist organisation. The amended\u00a0 charge before the court alleges that the May 15 attack resulted in the killing of two people, identified as Deacon John Olaleye and Michael Oyedokun.<\/p>\n

The witness further\u00a0told\u00a0the court that\u00a0two teachers were\u00a0taken away on\u00a0separate occasions and\u00a0killed, with their\u00a0captors allegedly saying\u00a0the government was\u00a0not serious about\u00a0meeting their demands.<\/p>\n

She said the\u00a0kidnappers also used\u00a0phones seized from\u00a0the victims to\u00a0contact relatives and\u00a0government officials during\u00a0negotiations.<\/p>\n

Describing the conditions\u00a0in captivity, AAA\u00a0said the victims\u00a0frequently went hungry\u00a0and had little\u00a0water.<\/p>\n

At one point, she said, four\u00a0people had to\u00a0share a single\u00a0cup of water. The water was\u00a0so dirty and\u00a0foul-smelling that\u00a0the captives had\u00a0to close their\u00a0eyes before drinking\u00a0it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had to\u00a0drink the dirty\u00a0water just to\u00a0survive,\u201d she told\u00a0the court, according\u00a0to reports of\u00a0the proceedings.<\/p>\n

Food also became\u00a0increasingly scarce.<\/p>\n

The witness said\u00a0the captives were\u00a0initially given rice\u00a0mixed with salt\u00a0and palm oil. After the salt\u00a0was exhausted, they\u00a0received rice and\u00a0palm oil, and\u00a0eventually were left\u00a0with plain white\u00a0rice when the\u00a0palm oil ran\u00a0out.<\/p>\n

She alleged that\u00a0some children were\u00a0flogged when they\u00a0struggled for food\u00a0and that meals\u00a0were distributed in\u00a0plastic containers.<\/p>\n

The victims, she\u00a0added, were unable\u00a0to bathe or\u00a0wash their clothes\u00a0throughout the 56-day ordeal.<\/p>\n

AAA said the\u00a0victims were eventually\u00a0rescued while being\u00a0held at the\u00a0kidnappers’ sixth camp.<\/p>\n

According to her\u00a0testimony, security forces\u00a0engaged the kidnappers\u00a0in a gun\u00a0battle before freeing\u00a0the captives.<\/p>\n

The rescue on\u00a0July 10 ended\u00a056 days of\u00a0captivity. The Presidency\u00a0subsequently announced\u00a0that security agencies\u00a0had arrested eight\u00a0suspected kidnappers during\u00a0the operation, while\u00a0others were reportedly\u00a0neutralised. The government\u00a0also said the\u00a0victims were not\u00a0released through a\u00a0prisoner exchange.<\/p>\n

The court is\u00a0expected to continue\u00a0hearing evidence in\u00a0the case, with\u00a0defence counsel\u00a0Bala Dakum\u00a0scheduled to cross-examine the DSS\u00a0witness on Friday.<\/p>\n

Justice Ibrahim has\u00a0also ordered that\u00a0the five defendants\u00a0remain in DSS\u00a0custody for the\u00a0duration of the\u00a0trial.<\/p>\n

The Oriire abduction\u00a0became one of\u00a0the most closely\u00a0watched school kidnapping\u00a0cases in Nigeria\u00a0in 2026. The\u00a0victims were held\u00a0for nearly two\u00a0months before their\u00a0rescue, prompting protests and\u00a0pressure from parents, teachers and other\u00a0stakeholders. The Oyo\u00a0State chapter of\u00a0the Nigeria Union\u00a0of Teachers also\u00a0took industrial action\u00a0during the crisis.<\/p>\n

The five defendants\u00a0–\u00a0Mahmud Muhammad, Abubakar\u00a0Abbas, Abdulrazak Umar, Yunusa Musa and\u00a0Shamsu Adamu Sani\u00a0– are facing terrorism-related allegations arising\u00a0from the abduction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Yemi Oyeyemi, Abuja. A witness in\u00a0the trial of\u00a0five alleged members\u00a0of the Jama\u2019atu\u00a0Ansarul Muslimina Fi\u00a0Biladis Sudan (Ansaru) on Thursday gave\u00a0the Federal High\u00a0Court in Abuja\u00a0a harrowing account\u00a0of the 56\u00a0days she and\u00a0other abducted pupils\u00a0and teachers spent\u00a0in captivity in\u00a0Oyo\u00a0State. The witness, identified\u00a0only as\u00a0AAA\u00a0for security reasons, told Justice Salim\u00a0Ibrahim that the\u00a0captives were moved\u00a0between six different\u00a0locations in the\u00a0forest, often barefoot\u00a0and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":99653,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5807,7],"tags":[8704,7304,169,8418,336],"class_list":["post-100277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-crime-and-violence","category-news","tag-aaa","tag-ansaru","tag-dss","tag-orire","tag-terrorists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100277"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100278,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100277\/revisions\/100278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/99653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}