A local food vendor in Oyo State mistakenly celebrated a massive business boom, unaware she was feeding terrorists conducting surveillance days before they abducted students and teachers, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari has revealed.
Speaking on *Arise News*, the senator representing Oyo North detailed how the attackers mapped out remote communities in the Oriire Local Government Area before launching coordinated raids on May 15, 2026.
“Two days before the strike, a woman selling beans and bread, who usually makes about N1,000 daily, suddenly started making N10,000 to N20,000,” Buhari said. “She thought her business was booming. Instead of reporting the unusual influx of customers to the Baale (traditional ruler) or teachers, she assumed they were just laborers working nearby.”
The high-spending customers turned out to be terrorists executing final reconnaissance. Two days later, they struck two rural schools in the neighboring communities of Yawota and Esiele, abducting students and teachers. During the raid, a teacher trying to escape through a window was shot, as was an innocent commercial motorcyclist mistaken for a pursuer.
Senator Buhari highlighted the vulnerability of these remote learning environments, noting that rural schools often consist of just a few unprotected classrooms, making them soft targets.
The Oyo abductions coincided with another mass kidnapping on the same day in Borno State, where suspected Boko Haram militants abducted 42 schoolchildren and residents from the Mussa community. The dual tragedies have reignited nationwide outrage, with teachers and parents demanding urgent, systemic reforms to secure Nigeria’s classrooms.
