By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
President Bola Tinubu has disclosed that his administration refused to negotiate with the terrorists who abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State, insisting that his government would neither pay ransom nor release jailed gang members as demanded by the abductors.
Tinubu made the disclosure on Thursday, 30 July, 2026 when he received a delegation of traditional rulers from Oyo State, led by the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, who visited him to express appreciation for the successful rescue of the victims after 56 days in captivity.
Speaking publicly about the incident for the first time since the rescue of the Oyo abductees on July 10, the President explained that the terrorists had demanded the release of already-arrested members of their criminal gang as one of their conditions, in addition to a ransom, but the government flatly refused.
He said his administration was not prepared to negotiate with criminals who had committed murder within their own communities, stressing that such elements grew up somewhere and could not be spared for their crimes.
Tinubu disclosed that the rescue operation was made possible because the military had mapped the geographical layout of the forest where the victims were held, noting that every security incident offered the Federal Government new lessons that demanded a re-examination of its strategy, architecture and operations.
He revealed that his directive to expand the Army from eight to 12 divisions was a direct operational response to the crisis, explaining that the expansion was designed to shorten response times and give security forces the numerical and geographic capacity needed to defeat terrorism and banditry.
He commended the security forces for the rescue operation, describing their performance as excellent, and pledged to convey the traditional rulers’ appreciation to the armed forces on their behalf.
The President further disclosed that his administration was addressing longstanding gaps in local-level security by establishing state police, which he said would operate with guardrails against abuse, adding that traditional rulers would also have a greater role to play in the new security architecture.
Tinubu attributed the intensified kidnappings and terrorist attacks in Nigeria to the security collapse in the country’s Sahel neighbours, noting that some of the perpetrators were non-Nigerians linked to the instability in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger Republic.
He said this development had compounded Nigeria’s security challenges, stressing the need to enhance the capacity of forest guards and establish state police to address the situation.
Also at the meeting, the President urged state governors to stop building flyovers in areas with low traffic, directing that they instead channel their significantly enhanced federal allocations into road networks that would improve living standards and give security agencies better access to remote areas.
He noted that states were now receiving four to five times what they used to get from the Federation Account, adding that no state was borrowing money to pay salaries and that pensioners were receiving their pay as at when due.
