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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Disasters & Emergencies

Oyo school abduction: Caregiver pleads for rescue of ward

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • A hired worker in Oyo State, Nigeria, appealed for the rescue of her ward, who is among schoolchildren abducted 14 days prior.
  • The woman, Aduke Balogun, stated she is solely responsible for the child as her parents are absent and she has no other family in the area.
  • She described the chaotic moments of the attack, where assailants disguised as soldiers opened fire, leading to the abduction of children, teachers, and a principal.

A hired worker in Nigeria's Oyo State has made a desperate plea for the government to rescue her ward, who is among scores of schoolchildren still held captive 14 days after terrorists stormed three schools.

I am the father of the child and the mother of the child. Her parents are not here. Me too, I have no one. I came here as a hired worker.

— Aduke BalogunBalogun explains her sole responsibility for her ward, who was abducted.

Aduke Balogun, who lives and works in the Yawota community, has no family in the area and is the sole caregiver for her ward, Kehinde Kaosarat, whose biological parents are absent. "I am the father of the child and the mother of the child. Her parents are not here. Me too, I have no one. I came here as a hired worker," Balogun said during a solidarity visit by the Oriire Youth Council.

In the morning, we bathed our children. They went to school. After 9am, we saw some people dressed like soldiers. We were saying, which visitors have entered Yawota. Before we knew it, we started hearing gunshots. Everybody started running around. Nobody was around.

— Aduke BalogunBalogun describes the suddenness and chaos of the attack.

Balogun recounted the terrifying moments of the attack, which began without warning on a Friday morning. After the children had gone to school, individuals dressed as soldiers appeared. "Before we knew it, we started hearing gunshots. Everybody started running around. Nobody was around," she said, recalling a brief glimpse of her daughter amidst the chaos before she was lost.

I saw my daughter, Kaosarat. Her name is Kehinde Kaosarat.

— Aduke BalogunBalogun recalls seeing her daughter during the abduction.

Another mother, Madam Agnes, also shared her harrowing experience, describing how residents fled in panic as gunshots erupted shortly after the children resumed school. The danger, she noted, extended beyond one community, with a youth killed in Yawota as residents ran for safety. The Elesinele of Esinele, Tajudeen Abioye, confirmed the scale of the abduction, stating that kidnappers took children, teachers, and the principal.

Please help me. We are visitors. We are begging the government. We know they are working. But they should help free our children.

— Aduke BalogunBalogun makes a direct appeal to the government for the children's release.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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