I heard students shouting 'bandits, bandits': Oriire survivor narrates dramatic capture

By Matilda Ikediobi

Tales of students being abducted from schools have become all too common in Nigeria, but

until recently, nothing of the sort had ever been recorded in Oriire Local Government Area of

Oyo State. That changed on the fateful morning of May 15, when gunmen stormed Community High School, Ahoro-Esinle, and Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School, abducting 39 pupils and seven teachers. As the attackers descended on the schools, pupils writing their tests screamed: “Bandits, bandits.” In this interview with Nigeria Info FM, one of the abducted teachers, Olatunde Zacheus, recounts the dramatic attack, their capture and the harrowing 56 days they spent in the terrorists’ den. Excerpts:

What happened on that day? How did the terrorists come, take you and your colleagues away?