The family of Michael Olugbade Oyedokun, a Mathematics teacher and vice-principal abducted during the May 15 school attack in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, says it will hold a farewell service for him on October 30 while questions remain over what happened to his remains.
The family says it has not recovered or received Oyedokun’s body despite months of waiting.
Oyedokun was among teachers and pupils abducted during attacks on schools in Oriire and was later reported killed while in captivity.
Family sets October 30 farewell
The family said the commendation and farewell service will hold in Ogbomoso on October 30.
It said the decision followed months of waiting for Oyedokun’s remains and that the absence of a body would no longer prevent relatives from formally honouring his life.
Oyedokun, 57, was a husband, father of two and vice-principal at Community High School, Ahoro-Esinle.
His family had earlier appealed to President Bola Tinubu and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to help ensure that his remains were located and returned.
Court testimony creates an unresolved contradiction
The family’s position sits alongside testimony given at the Federal High Court in Abuja in September.
A protected prosecution witness, identified as AAA, told the court that Oyedokun and another teacher, John Olaleye, were killed while in captivity and that other victims recovered their bodies.
The witness also said she was not present when the two men were killed and could not identify the specific people responsible for their deaths.
The available public record does not explain what happened to the remains after the reported recovery.
IDNN is therefore not inferring whether the bodies were merely located, physically removed from the forest, transferred to authorities or returned to relatives.
Trial allegations remain allegations
Five men are facing terrorism-related charges connected to the Oriire attack.
They have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecution witnesses have given evidence alleging links between the defendants and the planning and execution of the abduction, but those claims remain evidence before the court and do not amount to findings of guilt.
The defendants should therefore not be described as having killed Oyedokun unless a court establishes that responsibility.
A family still waiting for answers
The unresolved status of Oyedokun’s remains has become a separate accountability question from the criminal trial itself.
His family says it wants his body returned so that final rites can be completed.
That raises questions for the security and justice authorities handling the aftermath of the rescue operation: whether the remains were ever physically recovered, who took custody if they were, and why the family says it has not received them.
Those questions remain unanswered in the public record reviewed by IDNN.
The accountability question
The October 30 farewell will allow the family to formally honour Oyedokun.
But it will not resolve the central question surrounding his remains.
Authorities need to clarify whether the body was physically recovered during or after the rescue operation, what happened afterward, and whether there is any official record of its custody.
For now, the strongest supported position is this: Oyedokun’s family says it has not recovered or received his remains, while earlier court testimony said other victims recovered the bodies of the two slain teachers.
That contradiction remains unresolved.
