Oyo State Government has raised concerns over the spate of kidnapping incidents involving indigenes of the state, asking whether the recent attacks are part of a coordinated attempt to destabilise the state.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade, raised the concerns in a statement reacting to the reported abduction of 18 Oyo State students who were returning home from Sokoto State over the weekend.
Oyelade noted that the latest incident was the third unusual kidnapping case involving Oyo residents in four months.
said the frequency and timing of the incidents had become a source of concern, particularly coming shortly after the submission of the report of the judicial panel of inquiry set up to investigate the May 15 abduction of students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area.
The commissioner asked: ‘Are we being targeted? Are we under organised siege? Are these uncommon decoys to distract us?’
He also questioned whether the incidents could be politically motivated, asking, ‘Is this a political attack targeting scholarship and conviction?’
Recalling the Oriire incident, Oyelade said students and teachers were abducted from the local government area on Friday, May 15, 2026, and spent 56 days in captivity under what he described as harrowing circumstances.
According to him, the circumstances surrounding the incident prompted Governor Seyi Makinde to establish a Judicial Panel of Inquiry, headed by retired Justice (Professor) Mojeed Owoade, on July 31.
He said the panel submitted its report to the state government last week after months of investigation.
Oyelade said the establishment of the panel had initially generated curiosity among some members of the public, but that recent developments had made the circumstances surrounding the attacks more concerning.
He said: ‘Not a little curiosity was raised when the panel was instituted, but by now, even doubting Thomases must be wondering about what really is going on.’
The commissioner further noted that two major kidnapping incidents had occurred in the state since the submission of the panel’s report.
‘Ever since the submission of the report, two serial kidnapping attacks have been foisted on Oyo State,’ he said.
Oyelade questioned whether the incidents were merely coincidental, saying the timing had become too significant to ignore.
‘And we ask: Is this a coincidence? If it is, it is one too many,’ he said.
He stressed that residents of Oyo State deserved to know who was behind the incidents and why the state appeared to be facing a renewed wave of insecurity.
According to him, the people of Oyo State are an integral part of Nigeria and should not be subjected to attacks capable of undermining their freedom, education and political participation.
‘Oyo State citizens are an integral part of Nigeria and deserve to know those who are attempting to stifle our liberty to knowledge, scholarship and political liberty,’ Oyelade said.
The commissioner called for closer attention to the emerging pattern of attacks, stressing that the state government would continue to be concerned about the safety and freedom of its citizens.