The Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) is outraged by the May 15, 2026 abductions in Oyo State, where gunmen attacked three schools in the Oriire Local Government Area, kidnapping 39 students and 7 teachers—46 victims in total. Disturbingly, two teachers have been reportedly killed. In a separate incident same day, another 42 schoolchildren were abducted in Borno State by suspected Boko Haram insurgents who invaded the Mussa community in the Askira-Uba Local Government Area.
These tragedies mark yet another bleak chapter in Nigeria’s deepening security collapse. At a time when parents are in anguish, teachers are traumatized, and innocent children are being brutalized in the forests by armed groups, the Nigerian state has once again failed in its most basic constitutional duty: to protect life and guarantee safety for every citizen.
These attacks are not isolated. They form part of a relentless pattern of unchecked banditry, terrorism, and mass abductions that have turned our schools—supposed sanctuaries of learning—into hunting grounds for criminals. The government’s continued inability to secure our children, even weeks after their abductions, raises grave questions about leadership priorities, operational competence, and political will.
Yet, in the midst of this national trauma, Nigerians watched with disbelief and deep disappointment as the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, publicly distributed luxury cars—an act widely perceived as a political gesture ahead of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re election ambitions.
At a time when families are crying out for the safe return of their children, such a display is insensitive, tone deaf, and profoundly disconnected from the suffering of ordinary Nigerians. Leadership in moments of crisis demands empathy, restraint, and solidarity with the afflicted. Instead, what the nation witnessed was a celebration of privilege while children remain in captivity.
The contrast is painful and unacceptable:
• Children are sleeping on cold forest floors; luxury cars are being handed out in Abuja.
• Parents are begging for their children’s lives; political allies are receiving gifts.
• Teachers are being tortured; the Presidency is projecting 2027.
This is not the conduct of a government that understands the urgency of the moment or the weight of its responsibilities.
CHRICED calls on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately prioritize the rescue of all abducted students and to overhaul Nigeria’s security architecture with transparency, accountability, and measurable outcomes. The lives of Nigerian children must never be sacrificed on the altar of political calculations.
We also urge the First Lady to demonstrate greater sensitivity and moral leadership. At a time when the nation is bleeding, public displays of opulence are not only inappropriate and provocative—they are an affront to the families whose children remain missing.
Nigeria cannot continue on this path.
Our children deserve safety.
Our parents deserve peace.
Our nation deserves leaders who feel the pain of the people.
Enough is enough.
Signed
Comrade Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi
Executive Director, CHRICED