Weeping Mothers Roll on the Floor as LAUTECH Discharges Rescued Oyo Schoolchildren to Anxious Families After 56-Day Wilderness Nightmare

The crushing weight of a two-month kidnapping crisis finally gave way to overwhelming joy at the LAUTECH Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso, where dozens of rescued school pupils and their educators were officially discharged into the waiting arms of their families.

The hospital courtyard, which had been packed with anxious, praying relatives since the early morning hours, erupted into an emotional celebration the moment medical directors stepped out to clear the victims. As names like Testimony and Elizabeth echoed through the halls, mothers broke down into uncontrollable weeping, some throwing themselves onto the floor in pure gratitude while others lifted their frail children into tight, breathless embraces.

Out of the 44 total victims handed over to state authorities by the military, hospital officials confirmed that 35 individuals including 31 primary and secondary school pupils—have been certified fully fit to return home. However, eight children remain under tight medical surveillance. During the hospital’s extensive post-rescue medical evaluation, specialists made a startling discovery: one of the rescued pupils was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, specifically a hole in the heart. Hospital management reassured the public that the child is stable and that the state government has already been notified to sponsor the specialized surgery needed to fix the condition.

As families packed their bags to leave, the principal of Community High School in Esinele, Mrs. Richie Alamu, provided a chilling firsthand account of how they survived nearly two months inside the dense brush of the Old Oyo National Park.

“The kidnappers kept us in a state of constant terror,” Mrs. Richie Alamu shared, showing the visible physical weight of the ordeal. “Whenever they noticed surveillance drones or suspected military trackers were closing in on our location, they would force us to move. We were made to march through thick, thorny bushes in pitch darkness for three to four hours at a time, completely exhausted. The younger children were beaten constantly, and our male colleagues were kept in chains. We only survived by holding onto our faith.”

While the focus remains on treating the deep emotional scars of the survivors, the political fallout from the mass abduction is escalating. The Oyo State House of Assembly has officially thrown its full legislative weight behind calls for an independent, United Nations-backed international investigation into the raid. Lawmakers argue that because mass student snatches have become a recurring national emergency, a specialized international review is necessary to unmask local informants, fix structural military blind spots, and guarantee that classrooms across the state are permanently safe from terror.