A two-year-old girl has spent nearly three weeks in the bush. On May 15, kidnappers took her from a nursery school in Oyo State. She does not know about ISWAP or command structures. She only knows cold, rain, and the absence of her mother.
That same day, over 40 teachers, pupils and students were kidnapped from three schools in Ogbomoso and Oriire communities of Oyo State: Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Community Grammar School, and L.A. Primary School. The attacks also claimed lives. A mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, was beheaded. An assistant headmaster was killed. The same day, 42 school children were abducted in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.
On the 13th day of captivity, an abducted vice principal, Mrs Alamu, recorded a distress video from the bush. Kneeling, she pleaded for negotiation. "We are in the cold, we are under the sun and inside the rain, the children and adults as well. We are begging you," she said.
What sets these abductions apart is what the kidnappers demanded. They are not simply asking for money. Reports indicate they demanded the release of colleagues arrested for bomb-making. Children are being used as leverage to free people who build weapons designed to kill civilians. This is terrorist negotiating, not banditry with economic motivations.
The attackers used explosives during the abduction in Oyo. Rescue team members sustained injuries after encountering explosive devices planted by the kidnappers during operations. These were not opportunistic criminals who stumbled upon three schools. This was a planned, coordinated, ideologically motivated operation in Oyo State, which was not supposed to be a high-risk zone.
The geographical reach signals a dangerous expansion. School abductions are no longer purely a Northern problem. The Oyo attack confirms the crisis has reached the South-West. Since the Chibok abduction of 2014, over 1,600 schoolchildren have been kidnapped in Nigeria. Approximately 597 students were abducted within 2023 to 2026 alone. These are the accumulated costs of a national security architecture that has been structurally insufficient for almost two decades.
But there are signs the pressure on the terrorist groups is building. On May 16, the United States and Nigeria launched a joint military operation against ISWAP and Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, including special forces raids and multiple rounds of airstrikes. By May 19, 175 ISWAP and Boko Haram militants had been eliminated. Among the dead was Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, described as one of the most significant ISIS operatives in the world, alongside several other senior commanders. Al-Minuki coordinated terrorist financing, recruitment, logistics and attack planning. His death severely disrupts ISIS command, operational coordination and external attack networks.
The terrorist group itself has acknowledged the damage. Through their unofficial media channels, ISWAP announced that all routes of hijrah, the migration corridors for foreign fighters, are now closed. Their stated reason was the attacks of what they called "the American dogs and the apostates of Nigeria." The situation, they declared, was too dangerous. As recently as February 2026, ISWAP was actively recruiting foreign fighters, with Caucasian fighters confirmed in their ranks. The closure of these routes suggests the joint military campaign has achieved something concrete.
The immediate challenge remains bringing home the abducted children and adults from Oyo and elsewhere. The government must pursue both the security operations that are degrading terrorist capability and the negotiation channels that can secure the safe release of hostages. Without demonstrable progress on the hostage situation, the government's credibility with citizens will continue to erode.
