A 12-year-old student of a private secondary school was on Thursday abducted in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Eyewitnesses said the kidnappers, who were masked, drove a vehicle without registration number plates and fired gunshots into the air to scare road users and passersby.

One of the eyewitnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the incident occurred around 7:20 am.

“The kidnappers were masked and drove a car with no number plates. They pursued the girl’s mother. They abducted her and drove off. Though the girl resisted, they escaped through the Challenge area of Ibadan,” the witness said.

The Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, Olayinka Ayanlade, confirmed the incident in a statement issued in Ibadan on Thursday.

“In response to your inquiry, the Oyo State Police Command confirms an incident of suspected kidnapping reported in the Challenge area of Ibadan in the early hours of today, Thursday, February 12, 2026,” he said.

According to him, preliminary information indicates that at about 7:20 am, the 12-year-old student 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 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,” Ayanlade stated.

He added that the victim’s parents have been contacted and are in close communication with the Police as efforts continue to secure the safe rescue of the child.

The Commissioner of Police has directed a comprehensive, intelligence-driven investigation, assuring that all possible measures are being explored to uncover the circumstances surrounding the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The command urged members of the public to remain calm and provide any useful information, assuring that such information would be treated with utmost confidentiality. It added that further updates would be provided as appropriate.

The incident comes weeks after a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Wale Oriade, was kidnapped on December 3, 2025, at his office in Ibadan. He was later released on January 10, 2026, after spending 39 days in captivity.