'Free our colleagues, stop killing us' — Oyo teachers protest abduction of seven colleagues in Ogbomoso

• Teachers in Ogbomoso protested after seven colleagues were abducted during attacks on schools in Oyo State.

• Governor Seyi Makinde confirmed one teacher was killed and said several suspects had been arrested.

• The governor warned that armed groups displaced from the North-West are increasingly moving southward.

Teachers in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, took to the streets on Monday in protest following the abduction of seven of their colleagues during a coordinated attack on schools in the Oriire area of the state, chanting "free our colleagues, stop killing us" as they marched.

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde confirmed the abductions on Sunday while addressing journalists, disclosing that an Islamic Studies teacher was also killed during the attack. He added that security agencies had arrested six suspects within the community and three other persons of interest in connection with the incident. The exact number of pupils still missing has not been determined.

Video evidence circulating online shows that one of the abducted teachers, identified as Mr Michael Oyedokun, was killed by the attackers.

Makinde attributed the attack to armed groups fleeing intensified military operations in Nigeria's North-West. "With the pressure on the terrorists and the bandits in the North-West, they will keep moving southward," he said, warning that states further south must prepare to repel or neutralise fighters displaced from conflict zones in the north.

The governor disclosed that preliminary intelligence suggested some of those arrested may have acted as informants for the attackers from within the affected communities, a detail that adds a troubling dimension to an already alarming incident.

Makinde stressed that the state's response would not be limited to military action alone. Consultations are ongoing with religious and community leaders, including officials of the Baptist Convention, as one of the attacked schools is church-owned. 

"We have decided that we will adopt not just a kinetic approach. We are engaging leaders, elders and religious leaders, especially at the Baptist Convention," he said.

The governor appealed to residents to remain calm and assured families of the abducted teachers that every effort was being made to secure their safe return. "We are not taking this lightly. We will do everything within our means to resolve this quickly and bring our children back safely," he stated.

The Ogbomoso attack is the latest in a pattern of southward movement by armed groups that security analysts and state governors have been warning about for months. 

Oyo State, historically insulated from the kind of violence that has plagued Nigeria's North-West and North-East, is now confronting a threat that until recently felt geographically distant.

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