A rescued victim of the mass abduction that rocked Oyo State has given a harrowing account of life in captivity, describing how their abductors combined a strange mix of routine care and brutal control over the nearly two months they were held in the forest.

Speaking to Arise News shortly after regaining freedom, 15-year-old Bello Hassan recalled that his captors fed the group cooked rice regularly and even took steps to shield them from the elements, covering them with nylon sheeting whenever rain threatened while they lived under makeshift shelter beneath trees.

Despite this, the ordeal was far from gentle: the captives were kept under tight restriction, forbidden from moving freely or behaving as they pleased, with teachers among the group facing regular beatings from their captors.

The abduction, which drew both national and international outrage, saw armed gunmen storm three schools in the Ahoro-Esinele and Yawota communities of Oriire Local Government Area on May 15, 2026, seizing dozens of pupils and teachers at gunpoint. Hassan was among them, taken from his classroom mid-test and marched with the others deep into the forest, where they remained for 56 days as negotiations and a sustained security operation unfolded.

Two teachers lost their lives during the ordeal, deaths that further inflamed public anger and triggered nationwide protests and a teachers’ strike demanding swifter government action.

Relief finally came on July 10, 2026, when a coordinated operation involving the military, police, and other security agencies secured the release of the remaining pupils and teachers. Authorities confirmed that several suspected members of the kidnapping gang were arrested in the process, and officials maintained that no ransom or concession was made to the captors to end the standoff.

Since their release, survivors including Hassan have been receiving medical attention and psychological support at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso, with many expressing resilience despite the trauma.

Hassan himself has said he isn’t afraid to return to school. The case has reignited urgent conversations across Nigeria about school security and the state’s capacity to protect children in rural and vulnerable communities.