The House of Representatives on Tuesday pressed the Federal Government to implement urgent and wide-ranging security reforms after armed men abducted more than 30 pupils and teachers in Oyo State and killed a mathematics teacher in captivity.
The demand followed a motion of urgent public importance by Honourable Olamijuwonlo Alao-Akala, who described the situation in Ogbomoso and Orire local government areas as a growing humanitarian and security crisis that requires immediate federal intervention.
The attacks, he said, intensified after criminal groups began operating from the Old Oyo National Park in January 2025.
“Every passing hour of captivity is an hour of unbearable agony for families,” Alao-Akala told colleagues, according to a House summary of the proceedings.
He said more than 30 pupils and teachers were seized in broad daylight on May 16, when gunmen raided three schools—Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota, Community Grammar School in Esiele and L.A. Primary School—and forced captives into nearby forests.
Lawmakers expressed particular outrage over the killing of Michael Oyedokun, a mathematics teacher who, they said, was beheaded while held by his abductors.
The incident prompted the House to observe a minute of silence for Oyedokun, other victims and security personnel who have died in the line of duty.
The House commended President Bola Tinubu for sending a federal delegation to the affected communities and for approving the deployment of 1,000 forest guards to bolster security.
But Representatives said those steps must be followed by rapid, concrete action to prevent repeat attacks.
Alao-Akala urged the enforcement of earlier House resolutions calling for a decentralized security architecture—proposals that include state policing, local government policing units, decentralized courts and an integrated intelligence system.
He said the Old Oyo National Park and adjoining forests had effectively become “ungoverned territories,” exploited by criminal networks because of their strategic location along the Oyo–Kwara border and routes linking international corridors.
In response, the House adopted a set of resolutions asking the Federal Government and security agencies to intensify efforts to secure the immediate release of remaining abductees and to establish a permanent military forward operating base in Orire Local Government Area to provide sustained security around the park.
Committees on Defence, Interior, Police Affairs and National Security were ordered to jointly monitor implementation and report back within 30 days.
