The Real Reason Rescued Oyo Pupils Were Wearing Native Clothes

A teacher who was among the 44 pupils and staff rescued after spending nearly two months in captivity following the Oriire school abduction in Oyo State has dismissed claims that the incident was staged, explaining why the rescued children were seen wearing matching traditional outfits.

The teacher, Zachery Olatunde, said the pupils were dressed in identical native attire because they were abducted on a Friday, the designated day for wearing traditional clothing in many private schools across Oyo State.

Olatunde made the clarification in a video shared by Oyo Matters on Thursday after social media users questioned why the children appeared in coordinated ankara outfits upon their rescue, with some suggesting the abduction had been orchestrated.

Speaking in Yoruba, later translated into English, the teacher said the pupils were wearing the same clothes they had on when armed men stormed their schools on Friday, May 15.

“People are saying the children wore matching ankara. Don’t they know that schools in Oyo State observe Fridays as native wear days? The government approved it. Primary school pupils in private schools wear traditional attire on Fridays. We teachers were also dressed in native wear, while the secondary school students were in their uniforms,” he explained.

Olatunde, who spent 56 days in captivity, also addressed comments about the victims’ appearance after their release. According to him, the kidnappers occasionally washed their clothes whenever they became excessively dirty.

“The abductors washed our clothes a few times when they noticed they had become too dirty. Didn’t people see how rough we teachers looked? Didn’t they notice our overgrown beards and how unkempt we were?” he said.

The teacher also rejected suggestions that the kidnapping was fabricated, insisting that the loss of lives during the ordeal proved the incident was real.

“Those claiming it was staged don’t know what they are talking about. If it was arranged, would two people have been killed? What we experienced in that forest was terrible. It was real, not staged,” he said.

Appealing to the public, Olatunde urged Nigerians to stop spreading misinformation about the abduction and instead focus on the trauma endured by the victims.

“Please stop saying it was staged. It wasn’t. Everything we went through actually happened,” he added.

The Federal Government announced on July 10 that all 44 pupils and teachers abducted 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 regained their freedom following a coordinated security operation.

The victims were kidnapped on May 15 when gunmen attacked the three schools. During the assault, the Assistant Headmaster of L.A. Primary School, Joel Adesiyan, was shot dead while attempting to escape.

Days later, one of the captives, Mathematics teacher Michael Oyedokun, was also killed by the kidnappers while in captivity.

The remaining victims were eventually rescued through a joint operation involving the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), the Amotekun Corps and local vigilante groups.

The Presidency has maintained that the rescue operation was carried out successfully without the payment of any ransom or concessions to the abductors.