Armed attackers abducted 46 pupils and teachers from schools in Oriire area of Oyo State, south-west Nigeria, on 15 May 2026, and held them for 56 days before their release; authorities blamed Ansaru (a jihadist group that split from Boko Haram in 2013) and some suspects have since been jailed. A security researcher writing in The Conversation says it was the first mass school kidnapping in southern Nigeria, with victims as young as two, and that Ansaru's demands included freeing imprisoned members, which suggests it was linked to the 2025 arrest of its two top leaders. The case, he argues, exposes how thinly protected non-traditional regions are and strengthens calls to decentralise Nigeria's federally controlled police.