After spending 25 days in captivity, Mrs. Rachael Folawe Alamu, principal of Community High School, Esiele, in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, has appealed to Nigerians and government authorities to secure the freedom of her and other abductees.
In a viral video recorded from captivity, Alamu rejected reports that their kidnappers were demanding a N1 billion ransom, weapons, or the imposition of Sharia law in Nigeria. She said misinformation about the abductors’ demands was complicating efforts to secure their release.
Gunmen abducted pupils and teachers from Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Community Grammar School, Esiele, and L.A. Primary School during a deadly attack on May 15. The attackers later killed one of the teachers while in captivity.
Speaking in the video, Alamu said the captives were shown newspaper reports claiming their abductors had demanded the release of certain individuals, a N1 billion ransom, and the establishment of Sharia law.
“Please, I have come to make some clarifications. Today makes it the 25th day that we have been in this place and it seems that some people are making our problems complicated already,” she said.
“We were shown some print media where it was stated that the people who abducted us requested the release of some people.
“That they requested N1 billion, that they requested that Sharia be entrenched in the country. These are not true. They are just trying to create problems for us.”
According to her, the kidnappers have not pressured the captives to practice Islam or embrace any religious agenda.
“We have been here, and we have not been forced to worship in an Islamic way. We have been left alone. They have not troubled us concerning that. They are not asking for Sharia law. They are not asking for money.
“The single thing they are asking for is the release of some of their people. I don’t know why they are peddling this rumour to make it complicated for us.”
Alamu pleaded with Nigerians not to allow politics to interfere with efforts to secure their freedom.
“Please, we are just begging you. Don’t play politics with our lives. Nigerians, please help us to circulate this. Let it go viral.
“They are not asking for Sharia law. It is not true. They are not asking for weapons. They are not asking for money.
“All they want is the release of some people, and the government will negotiate with them and know those that they will release for them. I don’t know why they are playing politics with our lives.”
In another emotional appeal, she urged Nigerians to amplify her message and resist what she described as attempts to misrepresent the situation.
“Please, Nigerians, our lives are in your hands. Help us make this go viral. Don’t let the government deceive the whole world.
“They are not asking for Sharia. They are not asking for money. They are not asking for weapons. All they want is the release of some of their people.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have threatened nationwide industrial action if authorities fail to address the worsening security situation across the country.
Speaking during a joint press conference on the sidelines of the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, NLC President, , and TUC Deputy President, , expressed concern over increasing attacks, kidnappings and killings.
“In Nigeria, the crisis of insecurity has reached such frightening dimensions that workers now risk their very lives simply to report to duty. Communities are being overrun, farmers chased from their fields, teachers abducted from their schools and beheaded, and health workers attacked in their clinics. This is not a marginal issue; it is the central threat to decent work,” they said.
“No amount of policy rhetoric can create employment or protect labour rights where the most basic human rights, the right to live, are not guaranteed.”
The labour leaders warned that workers could be advised to remain at home if insecurity continues unchecked.
“If this continues unchecked, we may have no choice but to advise our members to stay at home, not as a strike, but as a desperate act of survival. The Nigeria Union of Teachers has kick-started it; the NLC and TUC will be compelled to escalate it if nothing is done immediately, as we had said during the last May Day.
“We will remind the government again of the need to hold a dialogue on the crisis of survival in our nation.”
Looking ahead to the 2027 general elections, the labour centres urged political leaders to prioritise security and governance.
“We urge the politicians to reflect on the security of the lives they want to rule. Is canvassing for votes in the midst of the huge loss of lives and properties morally acceptable?
“In any case, the trade union movement will not be voting fodder for any political party that visits us only at election time. We are finalising a Charter of Demands, and we will only support candidates and parties that commit concretely to workers’ rights, to security, to functional education, to public healthcare, and to ending the haemorrhaging of national wealth through illicit financial flows.
“Those who have actively abused workers and undermined trade union freedoms will face our organised rejection.”