Three gunmen who allegedly forced their way into two primary schools in Oriire, a rural area of Oyo state about 220 kilometers (135 miles) from Lagos, were taken into custody over the weekend, Nigerian police announced on Saturday. The suspects were identified by the local community before being arrested, according to Ayanlade Olayinka, a police spokesperson, who confirmed the detentions to The Associated Press.
Authorities have not said whether they are pursuing additional suspects. “We are still assessing the number of schoolchildren that might have been abducted,” Olayinka said, leaving open the possibility that some pupils were seized during the Friday raid.
School abductions are a stark feature of Nigeria’s long-running conflict with armed groups, but they have overwhelmingly occurred in the north and northeast. In those regions, criminal gangs and jihadi factions — most notoriously Boko Haram — have repeatedly targeted schools, kidnapping children for high ransom payments that often force the government’s hand. Analysts note that the groups use the tactic to extract concessions and command national attention.
The Oyo attack, which unfolded in the early morning in a state far from those insurgencies, marks a geographic departure. Police did not immediately specify the motive. But the same day saw another assault: in Borno state, in Nigeria’s northeast, suspected jihadi militants attacked a secondary school, a reminder that the kidnapping-for-ransom model remains active in its established theater.
Last year, two mass school abductions in the conflict-battered north seized more than 300 children, drawing international condemnation and intensifying pressure on the federal government to improve school security. The latest events suggest that the threat, while still concentrated, is not necessarily contained by the borders of the northern states where it has been most deadly.