School in Oyo Still Closed After Abduction as New Term Starts

Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota, Oyo State, is still closed. This school was one of the places attacked in May when pupils and teachers were abducted in Oriire Local Government Area. The new academic session has started in the state, but the school has not resumed.

This information came out on Tuesday when the Oyo State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Olusegun Olayiwola, visited the affected communities. He wanted to see how education was going and what was being done to help children return to school.

According to a statement from the Commissioner of Information, Dotun Oyelade, Olayiwola, along with senior officials from the ministry, visited Oriire Local Government Area. He found that the Baptist-owned school had not started the first term.

He then instructed the Director of Basic Education to talk to the Nigerian Baptist Conference about possible help for the school to avoid its closure. He pointed out that the school is privately owned by the Nigerian Baptist Conference. He promised that the government is committed to making sure every school is open and able to accommodate children.

"The commissioner also spoke with parents and children in the Yawota community. They expressed worries about children who had not returned to school and were instead involved in skills-acquisition activities during school hours," the statement said.

Olayiwola also visited other schools affected by the abduction. At Ahoro-Esiele Community Grammar School, which has resumed, teachers complained about a shortage of staff, especially Mathematics teachers, as one of their main problems.

The commissioner instructed the Tutor-General to help get more teachers posted to the school. He also heard from teachers in the Parent-Teacher Association who asked to be included in the state’s teaching service commission. They mentioned their ongoing service to the school before, during, and after the security incident. The commissioner told the Tutor-General to prepare a report on interested community members who want to teach for the state governor's consideration.

The May 15 Oyo Abduction

On May 15, schools in Yawota and the nearby Ahoro-Esiele community were attacked. This led to the abduction of 46 schoolchildren and teachers, who spent 56 days in captivity before they were rescued on July 10.

The attack affected Baptist Nursery and Primary School, L.A. Primary School (Ahoro-Esinele), and Community Grammar School (Ahoro-Esinele). The incident raised serious worries about the safety of schools in the area. Teachers' representatives resisted reopening schools, demanding better security measures first.

Now that the first term has started, the commissioner’s visit showed that getting schools and students back to normal is still a challenge in some affected communities. "In Yawota community, there were worries about children not returning to school and instead involved in skills-acquisition activities during school hours," the statement added.

The commissioner also visited some places where children were learning vocational skills. He encouraged their parents to make education a priority. He instructed ministry officials to follow up on the affected children and help them return to school. He warned against a further rise in the number of out-of-school children in the state.