June 3, 2026
In the latest footage released by the Ansaru faction of the Boko Haram terrorists that kidnapped 46 Nigerians in two communities in Ogbomoso Local Government Area of Oyo State, nearly all of them being schoolchildren and their teachers, one of the terrorists can be seen pointing the barrel of his weapon in the face of Mrs. Racheal Alamu, the school principal who has been made the main spokesperson of the abductees, in a shameless display of cowardly strength. Available publicly are also photographs of children alleged to be among those held at gunpoint in the forest, their bodies badly bruised and faces bloodied. What could these children have done to deserve such a fate from the terrorists? Mrs. Mary Akanbi, a teacher, is the other person suborned to speak on behalf of the abductees.
The main brief of the two women is to plead with the authorities in Oyo State and Abuja not to contemplate any attempt to rescue the abducted people and to hasten to meet the demands of the terrorists. The message here is that any attempt to storm the forest would only endanger the lives of the captives. The terrorists could not have found better conveyors of their message than two traumatised women — mothers, one of them with her one-year-old child sometimes strapped to her back or held in her arms, constantly swiping off insects, right in the middle of nowhere. It was deeply painful to see these women under the control of criminals whose heartstrings have been calloused by evil, literally holding the power of life and death over them and gloating as they begged for their lives. It was a heart-rending sight.
