Police Confirm Abduction Of 12-Year-Old Secondary School Student In Ibadan
•By OYENIYI AWOJOODU
IBADAN – THE Oyo State Police Command has confirmed the abduction of a 12-year-old female secondary school student in the Challenge area of Ibadan, describing the incident as a suspected kidnapping and assuring the public that efforts are ongoing to rescue the victim.
The student, a Junior Secondary School 2 pupil of Monarch Model College, was reportedly abducted in the early hours of Thursday, February 12, 2026, while being dropped off for school.
Eyewitnesses said the kidnappers, who were masked and arrived in a vehicle without number plates, allegedly trailed the girl’s mother before striking at a junction leading to the school premises.
The gunmen were said to be armed and fired shots into the air to scare residents, while also puncturing the tyre of the mother’s vehicle — a Toyota RAV4 with Lagos registration number KRD 350 GP.
The student was reportedly dragged away despite attempting to resist, as the abductors escaped through the Challenge axis.
The incident was promptly reported at the Orita Challenge Police Station, where officers visited the scene alongside the victim’s mother for preliminary assessment.
Confirming the incident in an official police response, the Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Olusola Olayinka Ayanlade,
“An incident of suspected kidnapping was reported in the Challenge area of Ibadan in the early hours of today, Wednesday, 12th February 2026.”
According to the Command, “Preliminary information indicates that at about 7:20 a.m., a 12-year-old female student of a private secondary school in the area was allegedly abducted by unknown armed men at a junction leading to the school premises as she was alighting from a vehicle that conveyed her to school.”
The Police said detectives were immediately mobilised to the scene. “The incident was promptly reported to the Police, and detectives were immediately deployed to the scene for preliminary assessment and fact-finding. Eyewitnesses at the scene were identified and questioned, and their accounts are providing valuable leads to assist ongoing investigations,”the statement read.
The Command further disclosed that the parents of the victim are working closely with the Police. “The parents of the victim have been contacted and are in close contact with the Police as efforts continue to ensure the safe rescue of the child,” it added.
Reassuring the public, the Police said the Commissioner of Police has ordered a full-scale investigation into the incident. “The Commissioner of Police has directed a comprehensive and intelligence-driven investigation, assuring that all possibilities and options are being explored to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident and bring those responsible to justice,” the statement said.
The Command appealed for calm and cooperation from residents. “Members of the public are urged to remain calm and to support the Police with any useful information, assuring that such information will be treated with utmost confidentiality,” it stated, adding that further updates would be provided as investigations progress.