A teacher rescued after spending 56 days in captivity following the abduction of pupils and teachers in Oyo State has dismissed claims that the incident was staged, explaining why some of the victims appeared clean when they regained their freedom.
Speaking in a video shared by Oyo Matters, Zachery Olatunde said the kidnappers occasionally washed the captives’ clothes whenever they became dirty and started smelling. According to him, this accounted for why some of the rescued victims did not appear as unkempt as many Nigerians expected.
Olatunde also addressed questions about the pupils wearing matching ankara outfits after their release. He explained that the clothing had nothing to do with the kidnappers, noting that it was in line with the Oyo State policy requiring primary school pupils to wear native attire on Fridays.
The teacher insisted that the abduction was real and not fabricated, stressing that the victims endured a traumatic experience during their 56 days in captivity. He pointed to the deaths of two victims during the ordeal as evidence that the incident should not be dismissed as a hoax.
The pupils and teachers were abducted from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area on May 15 and regained their freedom on July 10 after a joint security operation involving multiple security agencies. The Presidency has maintained that no ransom was paid to secure their release.
