President Bola Tinubu on Thursday told a delegation of Oyo State traditional rulers in Abuja that his government refused to negotiate with or pay ransom to the militants who kidnapped schoolchildren and teachers in Oriire last May.
He said the abductors demanded both money and the release of jailed members of their gang, demands that were flatly rejected, and described the military-led rescue that freed the victims after 56 days as intelligence-driven and successful without ransom.
Tinubu said his recent order to expand the Army from eight to 12 divisions was a direct operational response to the crisis, aimed at shortening response times and giving security forces the numerical and geographic reach needed to defeat terrorism and banditry.
He also announced plans to retrain and re-equip forest guards as frontline security assets and pushed for state police with safeguards against abuse.