Panic erupted at Ijeru Baptist Basic School in Oyo State on Tuesday as frightened parents forcefully withdrew their children following false rumours of an ongoing bandit invasion, amid heightened regional tensions caused by the recent abduction and beheading of a local teacher.
Panic erupted in an Oyo State community on Tuesday after frightened parents stormed Ijeru Baptist Basic School I and III, forcefully withdrawing their children over widespread rumours of an ongoing bandit attack in a nearby community. A video and photographs obtained by SaharaReporters captured chaotic scenes as anxious parents rushed into the school premises, forcing open the gates and hurriedly taking away their pupils amid immense fear and confusion. A community source who witnessed the incident told SaharaReporters that the panic stemmed from unverified claims linking nearby violence to suspected bandit activity, stating, “The parents stormed the school, forced the gate open, and began taking their children away by force.”
According to the source, many parents completely disregarded repeated assurances from school authorities, who maintained that the situation had nothing to do with a bandit invasion. “The information they heard was that bandits were around Ajawa, which is not true,” the source added, explaining that teachers at the school actively attempted to calm the situation after contacting local security operatives. The source further noted, “The teachers came out saying they had contacted the police command within that district that they were told the violence had to do with a fight between Fulani people and the farmers there,” clarifying that the localized clash had been entirely misrepresented.
The frantic development comes amid heightened tension and deep-seated fear in parts of Oyo State, following the recent attack and mass abduction of teachers and pupils from schools in the Ogbomoso axis. SaharaReporters had earlier reported that armed men attacked schools in the Oriire Local Government Area of the state, abducting pupils, students, and teachers, including the principal of Community High School, Ahoro‑Esiele, Mrs. Rachael Alamu. The vulnerability felt by the parents was severely compounded over the weekend after it emerged that one of the teachers kidnapped alongside Mrs. Alamu, Michael Oyedokun, had been killed, having been reportedly beheaded in a gruesome new video allegedly released by the bandits on Sunday.
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