Several teachers in Ogbomoso on Monday protested the abduction of school children and staff in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Armed with placards, they urged the federal government, Governor Seyi Makinde and relevant security agencies to ensure the swift release of the victims.

The protesters, who gathered at Takie Roundabout in Ogbomoso, held placards with inscriptions including: “Their deaths demand action,” “Say their names, remember their sacrifice,” “Teachers’ lives matter,” “Killed at their duty post,” “Noble teachers gone too soon,” and “Slain for the crime of teaching.”

A video of the protest obtained by the Peoples Gazette showed the group of teachers chanting, “We are tired; free our principal, free our children; we are nation builders.”

In one of the videos, a female teacher called on the government to guarantee the safety of the victims and strengthen the state’s security architecture.

“We don’t know the next target. Security is a right. Protect us. Education is the bedrock of a nation. If you hurt us, if you hurt teachers, you are hurting the future,” the protester said.

“Engineer Seyi Makinde, President Bola Tinubu, please secure our lives. The classroom will be empty without the teachers,” she said. 

The teachers’ demonstration followed an attack by suspected gunmen on two communities, Esinele and Yawota, in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, last Friday.

During the attack, several students and staff, including the Principal of Community High School, Esinele, Mrs Folawe Alamu, were abducted by the armed hoodlums.

In a statement on Friday, the state police command said its preliminary investigations revealed that the assailants, who reportedly operated on motorcycles, attacked Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota and Community Grammar School/L.A Primary School in Esinele.

The command said an assistant headmaster, identified as Adesiyan, was killed during the attack, while a commercial motorcyclist who reportedly resisted the attackers’ attempt to seize his motorcycle was also shot and killed.

Mrs Alamu, in a video on Sunday, appealed to the federal and state governments to urgently rescue her and the pupils abducted by the gunmen.

Similarly, on Sunday, Mr Makinde, during a press briefing, disclosed that seven teachers were kidnapped by the terrorists.

The governor added that the state government received a video showing that one of the victims, identified as Oyedokun M.O., a teacher at Community High School, Esinele, had been brutally murdered.

“What we know right now is that seven teachers were involved or abducted. Unfortunately, we got a video this morning that one of the teachers, a math teacher, was killed by the terrorists this morning (Sunday). Of course, our prayers are with the family,” Mr Makinde said.