"Within the Shortest Possible Time" — Police Promise Of Freedom to Oyo

A senior police officer has assured Nigerians that the 39 pupils and six teachers abducted in Oyo State last month will soon be freed, even as hundreds of angry residents took to the streets of Ibadan on the same day, blocking a major road and demanding that the government stop talking and start acting.

The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of the Southwest zone, DIG Adegoke Fayoade, gave the assurance during an operational visit to the Lagos State Police Command, part of a tour of the Southwest zone ordered by Inspector General of Police, Olatunji Disu.

Fayoade, who also oversees the ICT portfolio within the Nigeria Police Force, said all security agencies and government institutions are engaged in efforts to secure the release of the victims.

"All agencies, including government, are working very hard, and I can assure you that within the shortest possible time, the children and their teachers will be free," he said.

While the DIG was speaking in Lagos, hundreds of protesters were gathering on Iwo Road in Ibadan, blocking traffic and halting commercial activities on one of the city's busiest arteries for several hours.

They came with placards and raw emotion, many of them parents, neighbours, and ordinary residents who have watched weeks pass with no news of the children abducted from Oriire Local Government Area.

The placards told the story plainly. "Government Must Act — End Kidnapping in Oyo State." "Free the Ogbomoso Kidnapped Victims." "Oyo Is Bleeding." "End Insecurity Now."

The protesters laid out a set of demands that went beyond the immediate crisis: safer roads and communities, protection for farmers, traders, students, and families going about their daily lives, and a restoration of peace, security, and justice across Oyo State.

Speakers at the demonstration warned that kidnapping cases were escalating across parts of the state, and that residents had reached a point where fear had become a constant companion.

During the protest, Muslim participants paused the demonstration to observe afternoon prayers on the road itself, asking God to bring back children that the government has not yet returned.

The abduction of the 39 pupils and their six teachers from Oriire Local Government Area has shaken Oyo State to its core.

For the families of these victims, every day that passes without news is another day of not knowing whether the people they love are still alive, still waiting, still holding on.

THE NATION