The Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board (OYOSUBEB) says a teacher was killed after gunmen invaded a secondary school at Ahoro-Esinele community in Oriire LGA, and abducted the school principal alongside several students.
The attack occurred on Friday morning at Community High School throwing the area into panic as residents and parents scrambled for information about the victims.
In a statement on Friday, Nureni Adeniran, executive chairman of OYOSUBEB, described the incident as a painful tragedy for the state’s education sector.
‘This is a dark and painful moment for our education family in Oyo State, and our hearts are with the affected parents, teachers and the entire community’, he said.
‘We mourn with the family of the teacher whose life was tragically cut short. His service, dedication and sacrifice will never be forgotten’.
Residents said the attackers stormed the school between 8 am and 9 am, shooting the teacher before whisking away Rachael Alamu, the principal, and an unspecified number of students.
The assailants were reportedly armed and fled into a nearby forest reserve bordering the community after carrying out the attack.
Ayanlade Olayinka, spokesperson of the Oyo state police command, confirmed the incident, saying security operatives had already been mobilised to the area.
He said the command was still working to verify the exact number of students abducted during the attack.
According to him, the commissioner of police had departed for the community alongside a tactical team to coordinate response efforts and assess the situation.
Adeniran appealed to parents and residents not to panic, urging them to cooperate with security agencies handling the rescue operation and investigation.
The latest attack has renewed concerns over rising insecurity in parts of Oyo state.
The incident comes weeks after suspected terrorists attacked travellers along the Ibadan-Ijebu road in a failed kidnap attempt that left one person dead.
