Nationwide Protests Over Abductions, Bandit Attacks…Demand Release of Victims

…Demand for State Police Deepens

The abduction of pupils and teachers from Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, and Community Grammar School/LA Primary School, Esiele, both in Ogbomoso, Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, has sparked fresh protests across the country. On Tuesday, teachers in Lagos, Abuja, Oyo, Ogun, Delta, Kwara, and Cross River states trooped to the streets to demand the immediate release of the abducted teachers, students, and other victims nationwide.

In Lagos State, teachers from various local governments, joined by some residents, marched from Ikeja Under Bridge to the Lagos State House of Assembly in Alausa in solidarity with their colleagues in Oyo State. They also called on the government to address insecurity and the abduction of students across the country.

In Abuja, teachers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) held a peaceful solidarity march, calling on authorities to improve school security and secure the safe return of pupils and teachers abducted in recent attacks nationwide.

Addressing the protesters, FCT NUT Chairman Abdullahi Shafa said the rally was meant to highlight the growing risks teachers and students face across the country. He added that the protest followed a directive from the union’s national headquarters, which instructed state chapters nationwide to hold solidarity rallies over the attacks on teachers and students in different parts of Nigeria.

Shafa condemned the killing of the Oyo teacher, describing it as a tragic sign of the deepening insecurity facing the education sector. Addressing the protesters, the FCT Minister said everyone was concerned about the situation and urged that it should not be politicised

In Lagos, protesters carried placards with messages such as “Kidnapping Has No Place in Education” and “Bring Back Our Students”, among other demands. They also displayed a banner bearing the image of Mr Michael Oyedokun, one of the abducted teachers killed by the gunmen, urging the federal government to immortalise him, compensate his family, and fully sponsor the education of the abducted schoolchildren once they are released.

Addressing the press, Mr Akintoye Hassan, Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Lagos State Wing, said the protest was not only a response to the recent incidents in Oyo State but also a call to attention regarding the growing insecurity threatening education and national development.

He noted that the abduction of students and teachers, which began years ago in parts of Northern Nigeria, had gradually spread across the country, making no region completely safe.

“The struggle today is not only about a recent incident. It is about all the abductions of children and students that have taken place in Nigeria since around 2014,” the chairperson said.

“This is not the time to trade blame. It is the time to assign responsibilities and ensure that everyone works together to address insecurity,” Hassan said.

“If we shut down schools unnecessarily, we deny children access to education and indirectly help those whose aim is to disrupt the educational system,” Hassan said.

He further appealed to the authority and security agencies to address the security challenges and growing attacks on students in their institutions of learning, as such incidents were deliberate attempts to undermine societal development, stressing the need to protect the learning environment.

Addressing the protesters, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Honourable Mudashiru Obasa, expressed his condolences to the family of the victims of the abduction, calling for the implementation of state policing as promised by President Bola Tinubu.

“We are all concerned about the situation, particularly the one that happened in Ogbomoso, Oyo State. Here at the Lagos State House of Assembly, we have been doing our best to ensure security. That is why this House has, several times, been at the forefront of state police.

“Recently, we read about the position of President Bola Tinubu on state police. This further confirms that it is both necessary and important for this country to have state police. It is not about protesting alone; we all need to come together to find lasting solutions.”

The Speaker said security should not be left to the government alone, urging citizens to contribute ideas and intelligence that could assist security agencies.

In continuation of the demonstration which began yesterday, residents of Ibadan resumed protests on Tuesday, calling on all relevant authorities to rescue the kidnapped pupils and teachers of Oriire Local Council in Oyo State.

The protesters, who gathered at Mokola Roundabout in Ibadan as early as 8:00 a.m., moved towards the Sango-University of Ibadan axis and the state’s secretariat.

Some other demonstrators included the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), and other stakeholders who held a solidarity rally for the victims.

Juwon Sanyaolu, one of the protesters, said the demonstration continued as a result of the government’s lack of urgency in bringing the abducted people back “as long as our children and teachers remain in captivity”.

“It will continue as long as insecurity persists in the country,” Mr Sanyaolu added. “Today, in the country, insecurity has become an economy. An economy for the elite, making big money from it while terrorising ordinary people.”

He added, “This is why protests are happening in Ibadan and Abeokuta, and plans are underway for Lagos and Abuja. The demands are clear, and we will keep protesting until victory is certain.”

We are Working to Bring them Back 

Addressing the demonstrators at the government house in Ibadan, Governor Seyi Makinde urged the public to stay calm and trust that the government is working to bring the abducted victims back.

“It is not the time for us to say, ‘Well, it is the president that should have handled this, or it is the governor or the local government. This is a time to pull together as one,” he said. We’re not dealing with normal human beings. We are dealing with people… just think briefly, how will somebody take a fellow human being and slaughter him? Is that somebody normal? So, these are not normal people.”

“I can only appeal to you, for the students, the workers, and the teachers; I can appeal to you to please have trust in your government,” he said.

“We are doing our best. I have heard from the federal government security operatives that have been here for the past two weeks. They spent Sallah here.

“I have been meeting with them morning, night, and sometimes three or four times in a day. “We shouldn’t provide oxygen to the people that want to see us divided. The response at this time should be to pull together and allow the government to see this through,” he said.

“I can give you the assurance that our children and their teachers will be rescued,” he said.

In neighbouring Ogun State, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Ogun State chapter, and residents of Abeokuta also took to the streets to protest the abduction and worsening insecurity across the country and to demand the release of abducted teachers and pupils kidnapped from schools in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Seen with placards bearing inscriptions and messages including ‘Bring Back Our School Children’, ‘Stop Kidnapping and Banditry’, ‘End Terrorism in Nigeria, Set Our Teachers and Pupils Free from Captivity’, ‘Our Chalks Were Broken by Guns: Enough We Say’, ‘Release Our Teachers and Learners Unconditionally’, ‘Stop the Attacks on Schools’, ‘Government Should Rise to Its Security Responsibilities’, ‘Unchain Our Children, Unchain Nigeria’s Destiny’, and ‘NUT is in Solidarity with Its Members in Captivity’, among others.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Juwon Owolabi said residents now lived in fear due to rising insecurity.

He urged the federal government to intensify efforts to secure the release of the abducted pupils and teachers.

“This is a time when the parents and everyone are grieving. We cannot continue like this. We sleep with anxiety and panic, and we trust that the government has the capacity and what it takes to end this insecurity now.

“We know that if it doesn’t end now, no one will be safe in the end. We stand with the parents, the families of those who are in the den of this terrorist, and we call on the government to intensify efforts to ensure the freedom of all who are under the captivity of these terrorists,” he said.

Owolabi insisted that the country was at a tipping point and no one, including the rich or poor, was safe.

“We are at a tipping point. We are at a point where if we don’t do anything about this insecurity, all of us will be victims of it. It doesn’t matter who you are, whether you are a civil servant or whether you are rich or poor; you are not safe.

“Nobody is safe. It’s time we all come out. There is power in our numbers. The government must know we are united. Don’t wait until the 2027 election. You don’t even have a choice. The choices are made for you already, so this is the time for us to speak out peacefully. We are imploring the government to deploy all necessary instruments to ensure that these children are released and the security of our communities is guaranteed,” he said.

Also, the National President of NUT, Comrade Titus Amba, represented by Comrade Titilope Adebanjo, the National Vice President, asserted that teachers now live in fear, appealing to President Bola Tinubu to see the issue as a matter of urgency and secure their release immediately.

He said, “Education is the only living legacy that we have in this country for now, but it is a pity that the insecurity of this nation wants to collapse the only living legacy that we have. Education is hitting the rock if care is not taken. How can we be in the classes and be looking here and there for us to be secured?

“It is not the best; teachers are in the classes with fear, students are in the classes with fear. This is not supposed to

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