Kidnappers allowed us wash our clothes when it smells – Oyo rescued victim, dismisses claims abduction was staged

One of the victims rescued from the Oyo abduction incident, Zachery Olatunde, has dismissed claims that the kidnapping of pupils and teachers was staged, describing the allegations as false and insensitive.

Speaking about their time in captivity, Olatunde explained that the kidnappers regularly allowed the victims to wash themselves and clean their clothes whenever they became dirty or developed an unpleasant smell. According to him, this was why some of the rescued victims appeared cleaner than many people had expected after their release.

He also addressed questions about why several of the rescued schoolchildren were seen wearing matching ankara outfits. Olatunde clarified that the clothing was not provided by the kidnappers but was part of Oyo State's Friday dress policy, which requires primary school pupils to wear native attire.

Rejecting suggestions that the abduction was fabricated, Olatunde insisted that he and the other victims endured a traumatic experience during their nearly two months in captivity.

Rescued Oyo pupils 

To support his account, he noted that two of the victims died while being held, arguing that the loss of lives should dispel claims that the incident was staged.

"Those saying the kidnapping was staged don't know what they are saying. If it was staged, would they have killed two people? If it was staged, what we went through in that place was not good at all," he said.

"They said the children were wearing matching ankara. Are they not in Oyo State? Don't they know that the government has ordered that schoolchildren should be wearing native attire on Friday?

"Primary school pupils in private schools now wear native attire on Friday. We, the teachers, wore native attire, but secondary school pupils wore school uniforms," he added.

Olatunde urged members of the public to stop spreading claims that the abduction was staged, insisting that the victims experienced a real and painful ordeal.