Media personality and investigative journalist Kemi Olunloyo has claimed that at least eight of the children seen in widely circulated photographs eating biscuits after the release of abducted pupils and teachers from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State were not among those kidnapped.
News Week Nigeria reports that Olunloyo made the allegations in a series of posts on X, where she challenged the official account of the release of the schoolchildren and teachers.
According to her, there was no rescue operation, alleging without providing any evidence that the victims were simply returned after being taken to northern Nigeria.
“I just blasted the Nigerian Army on X. Many of you are equally daft. There was no rescue. They simply brought back those kids from the north the same way they took them,” she wrote.
Olunloyo further alleged that international pressure, including a United Nations meeting and an investigation she claimed was linked to U.S. President Donald Trump, influenced the victims’ release.
She also alleged that some of the children shown in official photographs were not among those abducted.
“At least eight of the kids on Bayo’s pictures eating biscuits were NOT KIDNAPPED. If you can tell me the right ones I will give you N1M like I gave Franca on Facebook. The whole thing was staged,” she wrote.
In another post titled “Ogbomosho Abduction Fraud,” Olunloyo questioned several aspects of the government’s account of the incident. She asked why only 29 people appeared in some of the photographs instead of the reported 44 victims, why the school principal thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and security agencies but did not mention Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, and why the victims were not wearing school uniforms.
She also questioned why the children were given biscuits after their release, suggesting they were meant to distract them from speaking about where they had been held. In addition, she asked why suspected kidnappers had not been publicly paraded by security agencies.
Olunloyo further alleged that the victims and their families had been instructed by the Presidency not to grant interviews to bloggers, podcasters or journalists, asking, “What are they hiding?”
She maintained that the victims had been moved to northern Nigeria before being returned to Oyo State and insisted that efforts to change the public narrative would not succeed.
However, Olunloyo did not provide evidence to support her allegations.
As of the time of filing this report, the Federal Government and Nigerian security agencies had not publicly responded to her claims. Earlier statements from security authorities maintained that the victims regained their freedom after spending weeks in captivity.
