KEY POINTS

• Oyo police arrested six suspects accused of feeding bandits intelligence by phone during and after the Ahoro-Esiele school abduction.
• Investigators traced the suspects through phone calls that allegedly detailed routes through the National Park to bandit hideouts.
• The attack last Friday killed two teachers and an okada rider, with pupils still in captivity as security agencies continue rescue operations.

The Oyo State Police Command on Tuesday said it has arrested six suspects accused of acting as informants to the bandits behind the deadly school abduction in Ahoro-Esiele, Oriire Local Government Area, with investigators tracing them through phone calls allegedly exchanged with the attackers.

State Public Relations Officer CSP Olayinka Ayanlade said the suspects, currently in police custody, allegedly maintained communication with the abductors during and after the operation that killed two teachers and an okada rider while gunmen seized pupils last Friday.

Now the disclosure marks the first major investigative breakthrough on a case that has triggered national outrage, federal security commitments and a fresh push for state police legislation, with the local network around the attackers emerging as central to the abduction’s planning.

Phones cracked the case

Specifically, Ayanlade said the suspects’ calls with the bandits allegedly contained operational detail on how the attackers could move undetected through the National Park to hidden safe havens used as hideouts.

“Our findings showed that some of the suspects were in contact with the abductors through telephone conversations and investigators are analysing those communications as part of efforts to uncover the full network behind the crime,” Ayanlade said.

Indeed, the analysis of the call records has positioned phone forensics as the most useful evidence trail in the case, with Ayanlade describing the route discussions as central to how the abductors successfully navigated the park.

Joint operation, six suspects

Moreover, the six arrests came from coordinated operations by the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Agro-Rangers, marking one of the most integrated security responses in recent Oyo abduction cases.

Furthermore, Ayanlade said the arrests came through intelligence-driven operations rather than routine sweeps. “The arrests were made possible through intelligence-driven operations carried out by joint security operatives working collaboratively to dismantle the criminal network,” he said.

Additionally, the suspects are assisting investigators with information that the command hopes will lead to the rescue of the pupils still in captivity and the arrest of fleeing syndicate members.

Pupils still missing

Meanwhile, the abducted pupils remain unaccounted for as security agencies continue search-and-rescue operations across forests and neighboring communities, building on Amotekun-led sweeps the command disclosed earlier in the week.

However, the local nature of the informant network exposes a deeper challenge for Oyo communities. The attackers relied on insiders who knew the school’s routine, the surrounding terrain and the timing required to evade response forces, a profile that complicates static security deployments and demands more granular intelligence work.

Today, Ayanlade assured residents that security agencies will pursue every fleeing member of the syndicate. “We are committed to ensuring that every individual connected to this criminal act is identified, arrested and brought to justice. Investigations are still ongoing,” he said.

Together, the six arrests, the phone-call trail and the multi-agency response suggest the case has moved beyond initial chaos into structured investigation. Whether the pupils will return home safely and whether the broader network behind the Ahoro-Esiele attack collapses will determine how the Tinubu administration leverages the moment for its state police push. Yet for now, the policing detail tells Oyo families that the calls bandits placed during the attack have become the tool now closing in on them.