The Principal of Community High School, Esiele, Oyo State, Mrs. Rachael Alamu, has recounted the harrowing 56 days she and other teachers and pupils spent in captivity, revealing that their abductors brutally killed two of their colleagues in a calculated attempt to force the government to accede to their demands.

Mrs. Alamu made the chilling disclosure on Monday during the official handover ceremony of the rescued victims to Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, by the Nigerian Army, where she gave a tearful account of the trauma and loss they endured in the kidnappers’ den.

She described their time in captivity as a painful ordeal filled with fear, uncertainty and repeated threats to their lives.

“We’re grateful to God. On May 15, a Friday that started well ended in chaos for us, and for 56 days we were in the bush. It was a harrowing experience, but we thank God for seeing us through. We went through a lot,” she said.

Mrs. Alamu disclosed that throughout their ordeal, the kidnappers deployed relentless psychological torture to break their spirit, repeatedly brainwashing the victims with claims that the government had forsaken them and had no intention of securing their freedom.

“A great relief to us was knowing that Nigerians were praying for us. Many times, they used fear to subdue us. At one point they told us the government was no longer interested in our case because they didn’t value us. But there were moments we clung to hope that we would come out alive,” she recalled, her voice laden with emotion.

She further revealed that, in a desperate bid to heighten pressure on the authorities and expedite their demands, the abductors eventually resorted to the gruesome killing of two of the captives.

“Mr. Michael was killed on the second day, while Deacon was killed on the first Sunday in June. They killed them purposely because they felt that would force the government to give them whatever they wanted,” she said.

She added that the victims only realised after regaining their freedom that many Nigerians had been following their ordeal and praying for their safe return.

“It was until we got out that we discovered the whole world was on our case. We have scars already, but we believe with time we will heal,” she said.

During her emotional address, Mrs. Alamu expressed deep gratitude to President Bola Tinubu and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde for their leadership during the crisis. She also extended heartfelt appreciation to the various security agencies whose coordinated operations led to their rescue, as well as to Nigerians nationwide who sustained the captives with persistent prayers throughout their grueling 56-day ordeal.

The initial crisis began on May 15, when heavily armed bandits launched a series of coordinated attacks across schools in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. The criminal assault targeted Community High School in Ahoro-Esiele, Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota, and LA Primary School in Ogbomoso, disrupting the academic environment and culminating in the mass abduction of the teachers and pupils.