THE Oyo State Government has debunked claims that it paid ransom to secure the release of the 39 schoolchildren and seven teachers abducted by gunmen in Oriire Local Council on May 15.
Recall that Martins Otse, a social media influencer popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), in a viral video posted on X, claimed that Oyo had paid ransom to the kidnappers for the release of the schoolchildren.
According to him: “Yesterday, I got information that the Oyo State Government paid ransom for the release of the schoolchildren and teachers abducted on May 15.
“But the kidnappers collected the money and have still refused to release the children.”
However, the state government, in a statement by Commissioner for Information, Dotun Oyelade, dismissed the allegation as “far from the truth,” accusing “irresponsible bloggers” of attempting to mislead the public and create confusion.
He stated that although both the Oyo State and Federal Governments have been making concerted efforts to secure the safe release of the abducted children and their teachers, no ransom has been paid to the bandits, either directly or indirectly.
Oyelade, therefore, urged the public to disregard the report and rely only on information released through official government channels, adding that the government remains in close collaboration with security agencies to secure the safe release of the abductees and bring the incident to an end.
