The family of Michael Oyedokun, the school teacher who was murdered by criminals, has made a passionate appeal to the public to halt the dissemination of graphic footage and images depicting his death.
Oyedokun, who was among the educators kidnapped during Friday’s assault on schools in the Aholo-Esinele community within the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, was executed by his abductors in a clip that appeared online over the weekend.
The trending video, which sparked widespread condemnation and mourning nationwide, has continued to go viral across various social media platforms, raising deep concerns over the psychological distress it is causing the grieving family.
In a deeply moving Facebook publication, a relative of the deceased, Adesewa Oladosu, begged social media users and online platforms to stop resharing the traumatic material. Instead, she advised the public to utilize official photographs provided by the family if they must report on the incident.
“Hello everyone, please we sincerely appeal to the public and media platforms to kindly reduce or stop sharing the graphic videos and pictures of our beloved uncle.
“We truly appreciate the love, concern, and sympathy shown towards our family during this painful time.
“However, the continuous circulation of those videos and images is deeply traumatizing for us as a family”, she wrote.
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Oladosu pointed out that Oyedokun’s children are currently writing the ongoing West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
She noted that encountering the execution footage repeatedly online has made this period an emotionally shattering experience for the students.
“His children are currently writing their WAEC exams, and it has been extremely difficult emotionally for them, his elderly loved ones, and all of us his nieces, nephews, cousins, and relatives especially as these contents keep appearing on social media,” she stated.
She further urged the public to display empathy and discretion by either blurring the gory visuals or avoiding the distribution of the media entirely.
“For the sake of our mental and emotional wellbeing, we humbly ask that if it is necessary to post about the incident, please kindly blur the videos/images or make use of the pictures officially released by the family instead,” she added.
The gruesome murder of the mathematics teacher has deepened panic and resentment across Oyo State following the coordinated raids in the Oriire axis, where armed men seized pupils, educators, and community residents.
Reports revealed that the gunmen invaded multiple institutions in the Ahoro-Esinele/Yawota neighborhood, taking dozens of hostages before retreating into nearby forests.
The Oyo State Government subsequently validated Oyedokun’s demise, while reassuring the populace that security operatives were stepping up tracking and rescue missions to free the remaining hostages.
Governor Seyi Makinde noted that the administration would utilize both kinetic and non-kinetic mechanisms to guarantee the safe return of the victims still held in captivity.
Law enforcement agencies have since expanded their presence in the affected border towns, with police authorities confirming several arrests tied to the school raids.
Additionally, the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Disu, paid a visit to the affected Oriire communities, where he directed an immediate scale-up of the rescue operations.
The recent assault has amplified anxieties regarding the spread of mass school kidnappings into parts of the South-West, a region that had historically been less vulnerable to large-scale educational targeted raids compared to the northern parts of the country.
International human rights organizations and security experts have cautioned that these escalating school invasions could instill deep-seated fear among parents and severely disrupt learning activities in vulnerable rural areas.
Furthermore, the incident has triggered localized protests and public outcry, with educators, residents, and civil society coalitions demanding robust security architecture around educational facilities and remote settlements in Oyo State.
