Principal shares her 56 days in captivity during school attack

Rachael Alamu, the principal of Community High School in Ahoro-Esiele, Oyo State, has shared the painful 56 days she and her students spent as captives. This happened after gunmen attacked three schools in the area on 15 May.

Mrs Alamu was among 46 pupils, teachers, and school officials taken when the attackers raided Community High School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School (Yawota), and L.A. Primary School. Sadly, two teachers, Michael Oyedokun and John Olaleye, lost their lives during the incident. Security forces managed to rescue 44 of the victims on 10 July after a successful operation.

Speaking at a Thanksgiving service at Antioch Baptist Church in Ogbomoso on Sunday, Mrs Alamu described the seventh week of their captivity as the scariest.

Fear of airstrikes

Mrs Alamu explained that at first, they were more afraid of the bandits. But as military airstrikes increased, that fear shifted.

"Apart from seeing the hand of God right from the beginning, the seventh week was the hardest for us all. The troops intensified their air raids. It was so intense and persistent that, at one point, the fear of the bandits became secondary. We were praying that missiles would not accidentally be dropped on us. We were so exposed, covered only with polythene bags and grass," she said.

"But amidst that fear, God consoled our hearts. They had told us the previous week that the governor had promised we would be released before the following Friday, so we were calm. But when the air raids started on Tuesday, they became so furious. Towards the end of that week, the commander came and said, ‘Principal, come.’ I was already shaking, as I knew what that could mean."

Death threats

Mrs Alamu shared an incident where the camp commander threatened to kill a hostage because the airstrikes were becoming unbearable for the kidnappers. She recalled falling to the ground and begging him to spare lives, noting that two men had already been killed.

"Unlike before, he became calm. He said, ‘Now that the government has been doing this, what do you want us to do?’ I said, ‘What you asked for is beyond any of the victims’ families. Just ask for what we can run around for.’ He said, ‘Okay.’ I thought that had passed. Later that night, we started hearing the sound of shovels. The two men were shouting; I was crying because we all knew what that meant."

"They were about to bury another person. But to the glory of God, that night, they just asked us to move, because they could no longer remain in that location," she added.

Prayer requests

Mrs Alamu revealed that besides praying for their release, she made two specific prayer requests while in captivity.

"One, I prayed that I would not return to an empty house. I know my husband’s health. At a point, when they told me he had stopped communicating, I felt something had happened to him, he wouldn’t have done that on his own. When we were rescued, I was so persistent that one of the army officers had to put a call through so I could speak to him. I knew God had answered that prayer.

"The other thing I specifically asked for was my health. The conditions were so terrible that anything could have happened. I just told God that my grave should not be in that forest. And God helped me."

Mrs Alamu described her release as miraculous, thanking God for keeping her safe and allowing her to return to her family.