Yoruba Nation agitator Sunday Igboho is being linked in fresh reports to a renewed push to locate the schoolchildren and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, as Governor Seyi Makinde imposes a sweeping curfew across communities surrounding Old Oyo National Park.

The development follows claims circulating online that Igboho led members of his “Iru Ekun” security team toward the forest zone around the park and deployed drones in an effort to trace the kidnapped pupils and their teachers, who have remained in captivity since the mass abduction in May.

While those claims were widely shared on social media on Wednesday, African News Digest has not independently verified the reported drone operation or Igboho’s direct presence inside the park area as of the time of filing this report.

What is confirmed, however, is that the Oyo State Government has declared a 16-hour curfew in 10 local government areas bordering the Old Oyo National Park, where authorities believe the abducted victims are being held. The curfew took effect on Wednesday, June 24, running daily from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. for an initial 48-hour period.

The affected councils are Oriire, Orelope, Irepo, Saki West, Saki East, Atisbo, Itesiwaju, Iseyin, Olorunsogo and Atiba, all of them strategically positioned around the vast forest corridor that security agencies have identified as a likely holding zone for the abducted schoolchildren and teachers.

The abduction case has become one of the most disturbing school kidnapping incidents in recent months. The victims — 39 pupils and seven teachers — were seized during coordinated attacks on schools in Oriire LGA in May, and one teacher was later confirmed killed in captivity. Governor Makinde had earlier disclosed that intelligence reports placed the abductees somewhere within the Old Oyo National Park axis, a massive and difficult terrain that has complicated rescue efforts.

Sunday Igboho has previously inserted himself into the crisis, publicly accusing unnamed political actors of shielding kidnappers and insisting he has the capacity to help secure the victims’ release. His latest reported move, if confirmed, would mark a further escalation of his involvement in the rescue drama unfolding in the Oke-Ogun axis.

For now, the clearest official development remains the curfew and the ongoing security build-up around the park, with authorities hoping tighter movement restrictions will help security forces close in on the abductors and secure the release of the captives.