Multiple videos have surfaced showing F. O. Alamu, the principal of Community High School, Esiele, in Oyo State, begging the federal government to negotiate with the Boko Haram terrorists who abducted her, her colleagues and dozens of pupils from the Ogbomosho area of the state.
Alamu can be seen in tears, saying that the terrorists had vowed to kill one of them because the government attempted to forcefully invade the camp where they are being held.
She begged the FG and the Seyi Makinde-led state government to choose a non-kinetic approach to rescuing the kidnapped children and staff of schools in the area.
She says, “Please, I am here again to beg the government, President Tinubu and the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, to please help us and dialogue with these people. They should not use force.
“The force that they used yesterday has cost us so much. It has added to our problem. In fact, one of us has been picked. They are going to kill him because the government tried to help us by force. We want you to call them and dialogue with them so that our lives will be saved.
In one of the videos, the principal says that the date is Wednesday, May 27, and that she and the 46 abducted schoolchildren have had to endure harsh conditions such as heat and cold as they were out in the open.
It has now been 14 days since pupils and staff of Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School, Ahoro-Esinele, and L.A. Primary School, all in Oriire Local Government Area, Oyo State, were taken.
FIJ earlier reported how the DHQ falsely claimed that “the incident was an isolated criminal act and does not reflect the existence of any entrenched terrorist structure in the region”.
It then backtracked on Thursday and said, “The recent incidence of kidnapping in Oyo State was clearly perpetrated by terrorists of the JAS Group that have been dislodged from other parts of the country due to high-intensity operations being conducted all over.
“It is therefore inaccurate and misleading to suggest that the Defence Headquarters, at any point, referred to vicious and violent terrorists as criminals.”
Although the Ministry of Education, the presidency, and the state government have all vowed to recover the victims, uncertainty continues to surround their prolonged stay in captivity.
