Oriire: Celebrating The Unsung Heroes, By Taiwo Adisa, PhD
Last week, the Senate announced a donation of N50 million for the families of the fallen heroes of the Oriire kidnap saga. It was a worthy gift from the lawmakers who identified the beneficiary families as including those of the three soldiers who died in the rescue operation, and the two teachers killed by the terrorists who attacked schools in Ahoro-Esinle and Yawota villages in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. Senate’s decision came as a sequel to a motion moved by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, as the senators named the lost heroes, including Lieutenant F.A. Isaac, Private Silas Musa and Sergeant Abena John Jerome. The two teachers who were senselessly murdered by the kidnappers include Michael Oyedokun, who was beheaded in the forest, and the bandits spread the video of the murder online, and Mr. John Olaleye, who was also killed by the kidnappers. One of the released victims has since confirmed that while Oyedokun was killed for having a phone in his pocket, Olaleye was killed to enable the bandits to mount pressure on the government. There is another teacher, Adesiyan Joel Adegboye, who was shot dead on the day of the attack, as he attempted to escape from the scene. He has since been buried in Ogbomoso.
Though a lot has been said about the rescue mission that paved the way for the freedom of the kidnapped teachers and schoolchildren of Oriire after 56 days in captivity, as the military authorities have been uncommonly forthcoming with information this time, a lot more remains unsaid. There are some unsung heroes of the successful operation whose names may never be mentioned in the media, and whose identities would never be known. Suffice it to state, however, that they played pivotal roles in helping to facilitate the release of the teachers and the schoolchildren. If you say the Obas, the Baales, the High, and the not-so-high chiefs would only be doing their jobs by contributing to the rescue operation, you would be right. But Kudos must still go particularly to the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Ghandi Olaoye, the Onpetu of Ijeru, Oba Sunday Oyediran, and the Olugbon of Orile Igbon, Oba Francis Alao. I use them as points of contact to all the Obas and chiefs of the five Ogbomoso local governments who played roles in the rescue operation. There is also the group of retired servicemen, the intellectuals, and the think tanks. There are also the everyday people, who contributed an enabling environment, the hunters and the Amotekuns, OPC, and Vigilante, who took up the challenge of defending their territory at whatever cost. We can say that while some made tangible contributions, others made intangible contributions, with all coming together to guarantee success.
I’ve heard commentators asking the Federal Government to replicate the Oriire rescue model in other communities where insurgency and kidnapping are rampant. It is easier said than done. For Oriire, I would say that the rescue was more of a mass attack and mass defence project. The government in Ibadan was never quiet. The people were unrelenting. Because the media mirrors the society, it was able to reflect the relentless noise coming from Oriire, and Abuja was getting the messages by the second.
Perhaps what we need to say is that the governor of Kwara and the traditional rulers need to study the Ogbomoso model and replicate it to free the Kwara victims. incidentally, Kwara is next-door neighbour to Oyo. Your community cannot stand akimbo and expect the children of others to face danger on their behalf just because they offered to serve in the military. When you help the security forces, you are only helping yourselves. Without local support, crime cannot thrive, and with the local determination to root out the haters of western education, who attempted to disrupt what the Yoruba have seen as their own crude oil since pre-independence days, the end of the Oriire saga must surely come, and so it did on July 10.
In Kwara, people have complained that some captives have spent almost 200 days in their abductors’ dens, and nothing has happened. The scenario is different for Oriire. While the people of Kwara were languishing in the kidnappers’ den, the governor of the state was busy chasing the former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, around, placing a series of newspaper adverts to celebrate the former senator’s alleged crime. Those were precious times that could have been devoted to mobilising local wherewithal to combat the terrorists.
For those who are still skeptical that the Oriire rescue operation was real, I bring you the voices of some of the non-military participants on the front lines of the operation.
*Participant One*: Codenamed RAA: “We took off on Friday around 5 pm; we slept at a place called Idi-Emi and left around 8:30 am the following morning, after receiving orientation from the military. We went from village to village gathering information. When we got to Igbo-Ata village, the soldiers asked me to lead because I knew the road. When I saw cow footsteps, I alerted our people that we might be close to the bandits’ location. After like five minutes, we started hearing gunshots, but we thank God that we were not affected by all they did. Some of them had an AK-47, and some had an RPG. Unfortunately, we lost two soldiers. The bandits also lost some people, and we saw their bodies. At one stage, the military called the Air Force, and helicopters started hovering around. The first helicopter didn’t see their trace, but the second one was able to locate them, and it fired at the bandits. We thank God we are back safely, but it was a tough battle.”
*Participant 2,* codenamed AAA: “We left for the operation with soldiers and OPC members. When we got to a place in the forest, we decided to sleep. It rained, but we all pulled together under a tree. At daybreak, we were happy, and we took pictures together. Before we left, the soldiers gave us orientation and operational codes; they gave us courage so that we wouldn’t be afraid when we saw those people (bandits). They said whoever heard the sound of a gun is alive; if someone doesn’t hear the gun, then something has happened. The soldiers asked for those who knew the area well, and they said we must all move together and that if anything happened to anyone, we must all fix it before moving. We thought we would get to a place where they threw bombs the first time and where they shot at the hunters, but we haven’t even gotten there. We just got to a place that forms like a letter U, and as we were navigating, we just started hearing the sound of guns repeatedly, and they were shouting Alahu Akbar as they fired the shots. Different sets of guns were fired. They fired at Amotekun, the soldiers, and the Agro Rangers. One soldier at the back of a bike got hit. Some of the bandits were hanging on top of trees, so they saw that he was about to launch against them. Some were also hidden on the ground in the bush. At a point, they got tired of firing guns; they saw that their guns didn’t really have any effect, then they released an RPG and the whole place got scattered. But we too fired back, and we saw some of their casualties. They really faced my colleague, Mr. RAA, but we thank God, we returned safely.”
*Congratulations, JDS, the Gbonka Olubadan*
His trademark is Ilaji, which translates to half in Yoruba. But everyone associated with socio-economic and political happenings in Oyo State in recent years would confirm that his contributions are not just complete; they ‘full ground,’ to borrow the street lingo. Engr. Jubril Dotun Sanusi is the man who adopted his mother’s tradename and gave it a global presence. The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, on Friday promoted him to the rank of Gbonka Olubadan in the famous Ibadan Chieftaincy lineage. It is indeed a well-deserved promotion for a man who is fast becoming the Idameji Ibadan ti won npe l’enikan (a half of Ibadan, being addressed as one person), as propounded by the Late Ilorin Dadakuada exponent, Odolaiye Aremu, in the days of the late strongman of Ibadan politics, Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu. This is quite evident in his contributions to all aspects of human life that concern Ibadan and Oyo State. In the build-up to the current electioneering campaign ahead of the 2027 election, there was so much pressure on him to seek the position of governor. I do not know how he managed to sidestep the myriads of calls and direct pressure. But the man has focused on his business, his philanthropy, his sports development, his agricultural exploits, his educational institution, cultural activism, and his pioneering tourism activities. He is a key investor and employer of labour in the state, one person whom the Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) and other Ibadan Socio-cultural groups cannot do without. He is truly an example of a man who is serving the people, without necessarily seeking political power. Indeed, it is highly uncommon for anyone to become such a rallying point as he is without seeking to translate the goodwill into political power. I am sure he is content rendering service to the people, making them as happy as he can, and creating opportunities for many more. As the Gbonka Olubadan, it is a call to more service, one which I know he would not be found wanting. Congratulations, Gbonka Olubadan, the Okanlomo Oodua. Let me put it as they say it in Ibadan: e o ko ajo Ibadan. Amin, ase.
