{"id":1116,"date":"2026-06-05T19:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1116"},"modified":"2026-06-05T19:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T19:10:12","slug":"we-want-our-children-back-nigerias-kidnapping-nightmare-spreads-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1116","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;We want our children back&#8217;: Nigeria&#8217;s kidnapping nightmare spreads south"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><div><div><ul><li>Summary<\/li><\/ul><\/div><div><\/div><\/div><div>YAWOTA, Nigeria, June 5 (Reuters) &#8211; It was mid-morning when Aduke Balogun noticed a masked man in military fatigues walking towards her children&#8217;s school. Minutes later, gunfire erupted, more gunmen appeared and residents fled.<\/div><div>In the \u200bchaos, her six-year-old daughter Feranmi managed to escape but another daughter, eight-year-old Kausarat, was not so lucky &#8211; one of more than 30 students and a \u200cteacher seized and spirited into the bush near Yawota, a town in southwest Nigeria&#8217;s Oyo state.<\/div><div>Videos of kidnapped children are circulating but Balogun cannot bear to watch and it is unclear if they are from her children&#8217;s Baptist Nursery and Primary School.<\/div><div>&#8220;Every day, I pray and hope for their safe return,&#8221; she told Reuters as she manned a stall selling soft drinks, bread and biscuits across the road from the school.<\/div><div>The \u200bMay 15 raid &#8211; and simultaneous attacks on two other nearby schools &#8211; have jolted a region long seen as relatively safe compared to more unstable regions further north, \u200bfuelling fears that kidnapping-for-ransom gangs are expanding their operations far beyond traditional hotspots.<\/div><div>Widespread kidnappings and the ever-expanding presence of armed groups across Nigeria &#8211; \u2060Africa&#8217;s most populous country &#8211; are likely to be key issues in the run-up to Nigeria\u2019s next national elections in January.<\/div><div>&#8220;The Oyo abductions mark a dangerous escalation from a crisis once \u200blargely confined to Nigeria&#8217;s north and Middle Belt into the southwest,&#8221; said Cheta Nwanze, partner at security consultancy SBM Intelligence. &#8220;As the 2027 elections approach, Nigerians will judge politicians primarily on whether \u200bthey can keep classrooms and communities safe.&#8221;<\/div><h2>TEACHER SHOT TRYING TO ESCAPE<\/h2><div>Nigeria&#8217;s government has struggled for years to tackle insecurity, ranging from herder-farmer conflicts across its centre to the mix of bandits, Islamist militants and community defence militia that operate across northern states.<\/div><div>Amid the violence, armed groups frequently kidnap motorists, clerics and schoolchildren, holding them until ransom payments are made. SBM Intelligence said kidnappers collected at least 2.57 billion naira ($1.89 million) \u200bin ransom payments in Nigeria in the year to June 2025.<\/div><div>Two weeks after the Yawota kidnappings, schoolbags, books, food flasks, water bottles and children&#8217;s footwear lay scattered across classroom floors \u200bat the Baptist Nursery and Primary School. A police patrol van was parked outside, with armed officers keeping watch under a fig tree.<\/div><div>At the LA Primary School, 5 km (3 miles) from where Balogun&#8217;s \u200cchild was seized, \u2060one teacher was shot dead as he tried to escape through a classroom window during another attack, said Lamidi Waheed, a teacher in the school.<\/div><div>In the third raid, another six teachers and seven students were kidnapped from the nearby Community High School in Ahoro-Esinele, Waheed added.<\/div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><\/div><\/div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nigeria school kidnappings in southwest stokes fears of widening insecurity\" class=\"wp-image-1109\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/853ef24c114a83992d220eb75cd356b6-1024x683.avif\" width=\"1024\" 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srcset=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/320116ff2a7318bcdc2fbece220008da-1024x683.avif 1024w, https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/320116ff2a7318bcdc2fbece220008da-300x200.avif 300w, https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/320116ff2a7318bcdc2fbece220008da-768x512.avif 768w, https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/320116ff2a7318bcdc2fbece220008da.avif 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div><div><div><\/div><\/div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nigeria school kidnappings in southwest stokes fears of widening insecurity\" class=\"wp-image-1114\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7764848a95090cd4b28a98f41472a11e-1024x683.avif\" width=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7764848a95090cd4b28a98f41472a11e-1024x683.avif 1024w, https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7764848a95090cd4b28a98f41472a11e-300x200.avif 300w, https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7764848a95090cd4b28a98f41472a11e-768x512.avif 768w, https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/7764848a95090cd4b28a98f41472a11e.avif 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div><div><div><\/div><\/div><div><noscript>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nigeria school kidnappings in southwest stokes fears of widening insecurity\" class=\"wp-image-1115\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b55b6988da9a44efc19edfe66273f072-1024x683.avif\" width=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b55b6988da9a44efc19edfe66273f072-1024x683.avif 1024w, https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b55b6988da9a44efc19edfe66273f072-300x200.avif 300w, https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b55b6988da9a44efc19edfe66273f072-768x512.avif 768w, https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/b55b6988da9a44efc19edfe66273f072.avif 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/noscript><\/div><\/div><\/div><button><span><div><svg><\/svg><\/div><\/span><\/button><\/div><div><div>Item 1 of 7 Aduke Balogun, whose daughter was among dozens of pupils and teachers abducted in a large-scale school attack in southwestern Nigeria, reacts while displaying her daughter&#8217;s photograph and clothing after an interview with Reuters at her home in Yawota, Oyo State, Nigeria, June 2, 2026. REUTERS\/Sodiq Adelakun   <\/div><div><button><span><svg><\/svg><\/span><\/button><button><span><svg><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div>Days later, a video circulated online apparently showing gunmen beheading a teacher seized in this attack.<\/div><div>Reuters was unable to verify the video.<\/div><div>Fearing the insecurity and lacking mobile phone networks to call for help, many who live in farming communities in Oyo&#8217;s Oriire district, about 300 km northeast of \u200bLagos, Nigeria&#8217;s commercial capital, have fled, local \u200bchief Tajudeen Abioye told Reuters.<\/div><h2>&#8216;WE WANT OUR \u2060CHILDREN BACK&#8217;<\/h2><div>When he came to power three years ago, President Bola Tinubu pledged &#8211; like his predecessors &#8211; to tackle insecurity by recruiting more soldiers and policemen, and making sure they were better equipped and paid.<\/div><div>However, the Oyo attack, along with the kidnapping of 42 schoolchildren last month in \u200binsurgency-hit northeast Borno state, have intensified scrutiny of Tinubu\u2019s security record ahead of the 2027 elections.<\/div><div>Tinubu will seek re-election and is \u200blikely to enter the race \u2060as favourite as the opposition, led by challengers Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, remains divided.<\/div><div>However, worsening security could weigh on his chances.<\/div><div>No group has claimed responsibility for the Oyo attacks, but the military has blamed Boko Haram Islamist militants, which usually operate in the northeast.<\/div><div>Some security operatives had been injured in an initial attempt to rescue the children and their teachers from the Community High \u2060School, said \u200bAbioye, the chief.<\/div><div>Since then, authorities have made contact with the kidnappers and eight suspects had been detained and \u200bwere helping the authorities, police spokesperson Olayinka Ayanlade said, without giving further details.<\/div><div>Authorities have urged families to stay calm and refrain from spreading rumours or unverified videos.<\/div><div>Grace Ojo, whose seven-year-old grandchild was among those taken from the Baptist \u200bschool has only one request. &#8220;We don&#8217;t need money, foodstuffs or anything. We just want our children back,&#8221; she said.<\/div><div>($1 = 1,359.5900 naira)<\/div><\/div><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1107\">Why SpaceX faces a longer wait to join S&amp;P 500<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1105\">Iran declares support for Hezbollah with wider peace deal in doubt<\/a><\/p><p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/reliablemovingcrews.com\/?p=1103\">Texas ranchers on edge after screwworm parasite detected in calf<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It was mid-morning when Aduke Balogun noticed a masked man in military fatigues walking towards her children&#8217;s school. 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