The hostages have been taken from three separate colleges within the southwestern state of Oyo in Could.
Printed On 10 Jul 2026
Two months after they have been abducted in southwestern Nigeria, dozens of scholars and lecturers have been rescued, the presidency says.
In a press release on Friday, President Bola Tinubu stated he was “profoundly completely satisfied” that Nigeria’s safety businesses had rescued the scholars and lecturers, 56 days after they have been kidnapped from three colleges within the southwestern state of Oyo.
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Eight of the assailants have been arrested and an unspecified quantity have been killed, Tinubu added.
On Could 15, 46 college students and workers have been kidnapped from two main colleges and one secondary college. The federal government has blamed the kidnappings on Boko Haram.
The youngest little one taken was aged two, whereas the oldest was 16. One of many lecturers was killed shortly after the kidnapping.
In a publish on X, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga stated the entire college students and lecturers had been rescued.
College kidnappings have turn into frequent in Nigeria, as armed teams search massive ransoms from the federal government and residents.
The state of affairs has been worsened by a safety disaster, partly fuelled by the Boko Haram riot within the nation’s northeast. In 2024, gunmen earned greater than $1.6m in ransom funds, in line with SBM Intelligence.
“This profitable army operation has ended the siege and standoff of over 50 days and has introduced reduction to your entire nation and the affected households particularly,” Tinubu stated in his assertion.
“On behalf of the nation, I specific my gratitude to the officers and males of our armed forces, the intelligence businesses and the police for the protected rescue of the kids and their lecturers.”
Previous to the Could 15 assault, nearly all of college kidnappings had taken place in northern Nigeria. The abductions in Oyo, within the southwest, have prompted issues that the safety disaster might be worsening.
It’s not clear precisely how the scholars and workers have been rescued, however Onanuga stated there “was no quid professional quo within the rescue”.
Earlier this week, Defence Minister Christopher Musa stated the assailants deliberate to make use of the hostages as leverage to strain the federal government to launch a few of their commanders from jail.
