Rachael Alamu, the rescued principal of Community High School in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, has broken her silence on why the terrorists deliberately killed two of the teachers.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, July 13, after she and the other survivors were officially handed over to the Oyo State Government and received by Governor Seyi Makinde at the Government House, the principal revealed that the killings were a calculated move by the captors to pressure the government into meeting their demands.
She told journalists:
“They killed them purposely because they thought it would force the hand of the government to provide them whatever they wanted. They already knew that the whole world was interested in our case.”
The two teachers who lost their lives were Michael Oyedokun, a mathematics teacher who was killed inside the kidnappers’ den on the second day of the abduction, and Deacon Esiyan Adegboye, 49, who was shot dead during the initial school invasion and buried in Ogbomoso on May 22.
Describing the harrowing 56 days spent in captivity, the principal revealed that the group spent the majority of that period in an open forest, exposed to rain and intense heat while she worked to keep the children calm and alive.
While she personally was not physically assaulted, she disclosed that younger pupils suffered severe beatings from their captors whenever they cried or made noise.
The Federal Government announced on Friday, July 10, that security agencies had secured the release of all abducted pupils and teachers following more than 50 days in captivity.
Before the formal handover, the survivors had been receiving medical treatment and psychosocial support at the Military Hospital in Ibadan, where Governor Makinde visited them on Saturday.
APC governorship candidate in Oyo State, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, also paid a visit to the hospital.
My happiness is they’ve been released. To God be the glory.
And so sorry for d loss of the 2 teachers. May their souls rest in peace 🙏