Oyo abductions: Reps decry math teacher’s death, seek state police

The House of Representatives on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to urgently adopt measures for the implementation of state police across the country as part of efforts to tackle worsening insecurity and rising cases of abductions. The resolution followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by the member representing Ogbomosho North/Ogbomosho South/Orire Federal Constituency of Oyo State, Ayodeji Alao-Akala. Moving the motion, Alao-Akala decried the persistent attacks on communities in Ogbomosho and Orire Local Government Areas, citing the recent abduction of schoolchildren and the killing of a Mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, by suspected gunmen. “The House notes with a heavy and grieving heart the unrelenting siege upon the people of Ogbomoso and Orire Local Government Areas of Oyo State, a siege that began with the brazen attack on the Old Oyo National Park in January 2025 and reached its most harrowing depths on the morning of May 16, 2025, when armed bandits descended upon Baptist Nursery and Primary School (Yawota), Community Grammar School (Esiele), and LEA Primary School, dragging more than 30 children and their teachers into the forest,” he said. “The terrified parents could only watch and weep.” The lawmaker expressed concern over the killing of Oyedokun while in captivity, describing it as a shocking act that demands urgent action from government authorities. “The House is deeply disturbed by the barbaric execution of Mr Michael Oyedokun, a mathematics teacher, who was beheaded in captivity by his abductors, a savage act that has shocked the conscience of our nation and demands an immediate and decisive response from every arm of government,” he stated. Alao-Akala said families of the victims continue to endure anguish as some of the abducted children remain in captivity. “Every passing hour of their captivity is an hour of unbearable agony for families who do not know whether their loved ones are alive or dead,” he added. While acknowledging the recent deployment of 1,000 forest guards to the region, the lawmaker maintained that more decisive action was required. “These measures must be expedited as we no longer want sympathy after the fact. We want to stop burying our children,” he said. He warned that the Old Oyo National Park and adjoining forests have become a haven for criminal elements due to the difficult terrain and their proximity to interstate and international routes. “We are alarmed that the Old Oyo National Park and its surrounding forests are a vast, ungoverned wilderness straddling the b