Six Suspects Arrested As Police Track Oyo School Abduction Informants Via Phone Calls

The Oyo State Police Command has arrested six suspects, including local informants, following telephone conversations traced to bandits who abducted school pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area. Official security reports confirm that none of the main bandits hiding in the forest have been arrested, as they continue to evade direct tracking using advanced call-routing technology.

The six arrested individuals are not the core bandits but rather local logistics providers, couriers, and informants. Among them are Babangida Buhari Awalu and Kabiru Aliyu, both commercial motorcyclists who acted as couriers for the kidnap syndicate. They were apprehended in the Ojoo area of Ibadan while attempting to retrieve ransom money for the bandits.

Others arrested include Adewuyi Sunday, Ayanwola Gbenga, and Rafiu Abdulmajeed, who were picked up during follow-up investigations. They reportedly come from the Gbugbu area of Kwara State and Ago-Are in Oyo State. A student identified as Adeleye Ayomide was also tracked down by military personnel after being caught with a victim’s phone. Email demands sent to parents were traced directly to his device.

Security sources indicate that investigators intercepted phone calls made during and after the school raid. The conversations revealed how local informants gave the bandits step-by-step directions on navigating the Old Oyo National Park to evade military borders.

The main bandits have bypassed Nigeria’s NIN-SIM linkage policy using specialised technology. According to the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, these syndicates use call-routing technology and portable network-masking devices that bounce their calls across multiple remote cell towers, masking their exact coordinates and registration details.

Financial investigations have uncovered that ransom payments and extortion funds were routed through local bank accounts. Security reports confirm that funds were sent to a Wema Bank account linked to the tracking of Adeleye Ayomide. Transfers were also made to accounts belonging to Adewuyi Sunday, Ayanwola Gbenga, and Rafiu Abdulmajeed, which served as holding points to distribute cash to forest-bound bandits. The Central Bank of Nigeria and anti-graft agencies have since frozen the flagged account numbers.

The Oyo State Police Command has debunked viral social media reports claiming the abducted victims have been released. Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Olayinka Ayanlade, described such claims as “false, misleading, and entirely unsubstantiated.” He stated, “As of the time of this release, there has been no such development, and members of the public are advised to disregard the report in its entirety.”

Ayanlade reassured families that intensive rescue operations remain ongoing. “Security operatives are working tirelessly, deploying all available human and operational resources to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted pupils and teachers, their unharmed reunification with their families, and the apprehension and prosecution of all those responsible for the heinous act,” he said.

The police spokesman also cautioned against the spread of unverified information. “The Command strongly cautions individuals and groups against the dissemination of false information, unverified reports, and sensational narratives capable of causing unnecessary panic, heightening public anxiety, undermining ongoing security operations, and threatening public peace and order,” Ayanlade warned.