By Imoleayo Oyedeyi

The Oyo state government has refuted claims that it paid ransom to secure the release of the 39 schoolchildren and seven teachers abducted by gunmen in Oriire LGA on May 15.

In a viral video circulated on X, Martins Otse, a social media influencer popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), claimed that Oyo had paid ransom to the kidnappers for the release of the schoolchildren.

“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,” he said.

Reacting in a statement, Dotun Oyelade, the state’s commissioner for information, dismissed the allegation as “far from the truth” and accused “irresponsible bloggers” of attempting to mislead the public and create confusion.

“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 said.

He urged the public to disregard the report and rely only on information released through official government channels.

Oyelade added 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.

Source: TheCable