The Oyo State Police Command has launched a coordinated joint security operation to rescue a 60-year-old farmer and school headmaster, Mr. Owoade Mathew, who was abducted by gunmen in the Igbojaye community of Oorelope Local Government Area.

The victim, popularly known as “Onaiye” and the headmaster of Nomadic Basic School in Igbojaye, was reported missing after failing to return home from his farm on Saturday. His family subsequently recovered his abandoned motorcycle at the farm, and the abductors have since contacted them using the victim’s mobile phone to demand a ₦30 million ransom.

In response to the abduction, the Oyo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abimbola Ayodeji Olugbenga, directed the immediate deployment of a multi-agency rescue team to the area.

The joint force—comprising police operatives, the Amotekun Corps, local vigilantes, and hunters—has commenced an intensive combing of the surrounding forests. The search-and-rescue mission has been further reinforced by the command’s Anti-Kidnapping Squad and other tactical units.

Additionally, the command issued a statement clarifying that, contrary to misleading reports circulating in sections of the media, Mr. Mathew was abducted directly on his farm along the Igbojaye–Budo Aare Farm Road and not within the premises of any school. The police authorities urged the public to remain calm and to continue providing credible, timely information to assist security agencies in securing the victim’s safe release and apprehending the perpetrators.