The Oyo State Police Command has arrested six suspected local informants and couriers linked to the recent Ahoro‑Esiele, Oriire LGA school abductions after tracing telephone conversations between the suspects and the forest‑based bandits, police said on Tuesday.
Police identified the six as Babangida Buhari Awalu and Kabiru Aliyu — both commercial motorcyclists arrested in the Ojoo area of Ibadan while allegedly collecting ransom “exchange money” — as well as Adewuyi Sunday, Ayanwola Gbenga and Rafiu Abdulmajeed, arrested during follow‑up inquiries and said to be from Gbugbu (Kwara State) and Ago‑Are (Oyo State). The sixth suspect, Adeleye Ayomide, a university student, was detained by military personnel after investigators traced ransom demand emails to a phone found in his possession.
Oyo State police sources stressed that those arrested are alleged logistics providers and informants, not the core bandits believed to be hiding in the Old Oyo National Park. As a result, the principal kidnappers remain at large; security agencies say the forest‑based suspects continue to evade capture by using advanced telecommunications techniques.
Investigators intercepted calls made during and after the raid that, according to the police public relations officer, included step‑by‑step directions from the informants on how the bandits navigated the park and avoided military checkpoints. Despite Nigeria’s NIN‑SIM linkage policy, the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy told investigators the syndicate used specialised call‑routing technologies and portable network‑masking devices to bounce calls across multiple remote cell towers, obscuring geographic location and registration details.
Security reports also indicate that ransom payments were channelled through local bank accounts to be layered and distributed. Investigators say funds tied to Adeleye Ayomide were routed into an account at Wema Bank, while additional transfers flowed through accounts held by Adewuyi, Ayanwola and Rafiu, which served as temporary holding points for cash destined for the forest‑based gang.
The Central Bank of Nigeria and anti‑graft agencies have frozen the flagged accounts as part of ongoing financial tracing. Authorities have declined to publish specific residential addresses for the arrested suspects, citing prosecution sensitivities and state security protocols.
The Oyo State Command said investigations continue as security forces work to locate and apprehend the main kidnappers operating in the forest.
