Mrs Racheal Alamu, principal among the victims abducted in Oriire, Oyo State, has recounted 56 harrowing days in captivity where children were beaten into silence, male teachers were chained and blindfolded, and victims were forced on dangerous midnight forest treks to evade security forces.
The principal abducted alongside teachers, students and pupils in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, Mrs Racheal Alamu, has recounted a harrowing 56-day ordeal in captivity, revealing that children were beaten into silence while male teachers were chained and blindfolded.
Alamu spoke Monday after she and the rescued teachers and pupils were officially handed over to Governor Seyi Makinde at the Governor’s Office in Ibadan.
She said the victims spent most of the 56 days in the open forest, exposed to harsh weather while struggling to keep the children alive and emotionally stable.
“We were in the forest, in the open, most of the time, under the sun and under the rain, with the children. But we kept going because there was no way out. We knew it was only God that could help us,” she said.
According to Vanguard, while she was not physically assaulted, Alamu said several younger pupils endured severe beatings whenever they cried or made noise, as captors feared attracting attention. “The youngest children suffered the most. They would tie their mouths with pieces of cloth and beat them very well,” she said.
The male victims, she added, suffered harsher treatment — blindfolded, handcuffed and chained on their legs. She noted, however, that none of the victims was sexually molested during captivity.
Alamu described how the captors repeatedly relocated them at night whenever they feared discovery, forcing exhausting treks lasting three to four hours through difficult terrain, leaving bruises on their bodies.
She also recounted how, after the abduction, victims were moved using her car before trekking and later riding about 10 motorcycles for over four hours through forest paths.
Reflecting on her 28-year teaching career, Alamu said returning to rural postings would now require immense courage.
Separately, a relative of one rescued pupil, identified only as Olasunbo, said the children survived mainly on cocoyam and noodles, drinking water from a nearby waterfall inside the Oyo National Forest where they were held by Ansaru terrorists.
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