May 27, 2026
When Nigerians celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha next Friday, it will be exactly two weeks since the terrorists, now identified as a faction of Boko Haram, ended the peace of two communities in Ahoro-Esinele and Yawota, both in Oriire LGA in Ogbomoso, Oyo State. There these terror artists abducted about fifty Nigerians, mostly school pupils, students, and their teachers.
Among the abductees is at least one infant. Since this violent intrusion into the world of these hapless ones, two of them, Joel Adesiyan and Michael Oyedokun (not counting the Okada man killed earlier), have died, while more Nigerians have suffered a similar fate across different parts of the country. The two deceased were men. While one was killed during initial attempts to rescue the abductees, they beheaded the other in a blood-curdling moment designed to send a message to the rest of us watching from the sideline that they were in deadly earnest and would brook no interference from any quarter.
Their demands are to be met, and, going by the response from the authorities so far, the terrorists have certainly taken the initiative from the government and are now calling the shots. Two days ago, they were demanding to speak to the state governor, Seyi Makinde, and nobody else. That’s how bold we’ve allowed them to be. Everyone is nervous, if not confused, about what fate awaits the remaining abductees.
