IBADAN, Nigeria — Zachery Olatunde, a teacher held for 56 days with 43 pupils and colleagues after gunmen attacked three schools in Oyo State, has rejected social-media claims that the abduction was staged.
He explained that the children’s matching Ankara clothing was the same attire they wore when they were kidnapped on a Friday.
Olatunde said primary school pupils and teachers in the state commonly wear traditional clothing on Fridays, while secondary school students attend classes in their regular uniforms.
He spoke in Yoruba in a video shared by Oyo Matters on Thursday, July 16, 2026.
His comments were translated into English.
The teacher said the coordinated clothing worn by some of the freed pupils had prompted online speculation about whether the kidnapping was genuine.
“They said the children were wearing matching ankara. Are they not in Oyo State? Don’t they know that the government has ordered that schoolchildren should be wearing native attires on Friday?” Olatunde said.
“Primary school pupils in private schools now wear native wears on Friday. We the teachers wore native attire, but secondary school pupils wore school uniform,” he added.
The victims were abducted on Friday, May 15, 2026, when armed men attacked Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School and L.A. Primary School in the Esiele and Yawota communities of Oriire Local Government Area.
Teacher Explains Victims’ Appearance
Olatunde also responded to claims that the pupils and teachers appeared too clean when they were rescued to have spent nearly two months in captivity.
He said the kidnappers occasionally washed the captives’ clothes after they became heavily soiled and began to smell.
“The abductors are the ones that wash the clothes for us a few times while we were in captivity, when they notice that we are already smelling. Don’t they see how rough and dirty we the teachers were? Didn’t they see how rough our beards were, like that of a bush rat?” he said.
Olatunde said the condition of the teachers and the deaths of two members of the school community contradicted suggestions that the incident had been orchestrated.
Joel Adesiyan, the assistant headmaster of L.A. Primary School, was killed while attempting to escape during the attack.
Michael Oyedokun, a mathematics teacher, was later killed while the group remained in captivity.
“Those saying the kidnapping was staged don’t know what they are saying. If it was staged, would they have killed two people? If it was staged, what we went through in that place was not good at all,” Olatunde said.
He urged members of the public to stop circulating the allegation.
“So those that are saying it was staged are all telling lies. It was not staged. It was real. So please stop saying those types of things,” he said.
Forty-Four Captives Rescued
The Federal Government announced on July 10 that all 44 surviving pupils and teachers had been freed after a joint security operation.
The rescue involved the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Amotekun Corps and local vigilante groups.
The Presidency said no ransom was paid and no concession was granted to the kidnappers to secure the victims’ release.
