Senator Buhari Abdulfatai, who represents Oyo North Senatorial District, has attributed the successful rescue of the abducted Oriire schoolchildren to the military’s strategic deployment and effective control of key escape routes.
Speaking during an interview on Arise Prime Time on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, the senator said security forces succeeded because they understood the terrain and coordinated their operations to prevent the kidnappers from fleeing with the victims.
According to Abdulfatai, a federal government road linking Ibokwe to Kishi played a crucial role in the operation, as troops were stationed along the route to block the abductors’ movement.
“I was discussing with some friends, looking at how the rescue operation was carried out, in my view, because I know the terrain very well. Fortunately for us, there’s a federal government road connecting Ibokwe to Kishi. Had there been no road, they would have escaped, but the military were positioned on that road to the north,” he said.
The lawmaker explained that security personnel were strategically deployed along multiple routes surrounding the forest, effectively cutting off the kidnappers’ escape paths. He said this enabled surveillance teams to narrow down the abductors’ location and carry out the rescue operation.
Abdulfatai dismissed claims that the victims’ release resulted primarily from the arrest of relatives of the kidnappers, insisting that the decisive factor was the military’s tactical deployment and coordinated operations.
He commended the armed forces and other security agencies for their collaboration, describing the operation as a model of effective inter-agency coordination. He recalled seeing naval personnel deployed in the area weeks before the rescue and later realizing that each security agency, including personnel from the Office of the National Security Adviser and senior military commanders, had specific roles in the mission.
The senator expressed hope that the combination of intelligence gathering, surveillance, and coordinated action demonstrated during the operation would be replicated in other parts of the country facing similar security challenges.
