While We Argue Politics, Children Remain In Captivity

The recent kidnapping of schoolchildren and their teachers in Oyo State has once again forced Nigerians to confront a painful reality. What happened in Oyo is not an isolated incident. It is part of a long and disturbing pattern that has gradually transformed schools from places of learning into potential targets for organised criminal violence.

On 15 May 2026, armed men attacked schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State and abducted 39 pupils and seven teachers. Some of the children were as young as two years old. Reports that followed described the killing of teachers and the continued captivity of many victims, leaving families, communities and the nation in anguish.

For many Nigerians, the Oyo incident reopened wounds that never truly healed. The memory of Chibok remains fresh. On the night of 14 April 2014, Boko Haram abducted 276 schoolgirls from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, in Borno State. More than a decade later, some of those girls remain unaccounted for.

Four years later, on 19 February 2018, Boko Haram struck again in Dapchi, Yobe State, abducting 110 schoolgirls from Government Girls Science and Technical College. Most were eventually released, but Leah Sharibu remained in captivity after reportedly refusing to renounce her Christian faith.

The pattern did not end there. Kankara followed in December 2020 when more than 500 schoolboys were abducted from a secondary school in Katsina State. Kuriga followed in March 2024 when nearly 300 pupils were taken from schools in Kaduna State. Over the past decade, more than 1,400 Nigerian schoolchildren have been kidnapped in attacks on educational institutions.

What we are witnessing today is therefore not merely a security problem. It is a social, economic, psychological and political crisis.

Years ago, kidnappers largely focused on wealthy individuals, expatriates, politicians and prominent business figures. Their targets were chosen because of their perceived ability to pay large ransoms. Over time, however, kidnapping evolved into a criminal industry. Schools became attractive because they offered large numbers of vulnerable victims and enormous emotional pressure on families and governments.

The economic consequences are significant. Parents who no longer trust the safety of schools begin to withdraw their children. School attendance declines. Communities already battling poverty become trapped in cycles where insecurity discourages education and poor educational outcomes make future development even more difficult.

The psychological consequences are even deeper. Children who survive abduction often carry trauma for years. Teachers who survive such experiences may never again feel completely safe in the classroom. Parents live with constant anxiety, fearing that a normal school day could suddenly become a nightmare. Entire communities gradually develop a sense of collective fear.

This is why the kidnapping of schoolchildren generates a reaction different from most other crimes. When children are targeted, society begins to question whether its future is secure.

As expected, the Oyo incident has generated political controversy. Some supporters of the government argue that political opponents are exploiting these tragedies to portray the administration as weak, incompetent or indifferent. Others insist that government at all levels has not demonstrated the urgency required to confront the growing insecurity.

Both positions reflect the highly charged atmosphere that often accompanies national crises. However, there is a danger in reducing the suffering of victims to political arguments. Whether one supports or opposes the government, the children in captivity are not political statistics. They are human beings. Their teachers are human beings. Their families are living through an ordeal no parent should ever experience.

There have also been comparisons between the rescue of relatives of prominent individuals and the continued captivity of ordinary schoolchildren and teachers. Such comparisons are understandable because they arise from public frustration. Yet it is important to recognise that different kidnapping incidents may involve different criminal groups, different locations, different intelligence reports and different operational challenges. Without access to security information, the public cannot always know why one operation succeeds quickly while another proves more difficult.

The larger issue is trust. Citizens want to believe that every life matters equally. They want confidence that the full weight of the state is deployed regardless of whether the victim is a politician's relative, a businessman's child, a teacher or the child of an ordinary farmer. Once people begin to doubt that principle, public confidence in institutions begins to weaken.

As a teacher, I find these developments particularly difficult to process. The truth is that I no longer watch many of the disturbing videos that emerge from such incidents because of their emotional impact. Every teacher who is kidnapped could easily be a colleague. Every frightened child could easily be sitting in any classroom across the country. The proximity of that reality makes the pain impossible to ignore.

A few days ago, Nigeria celebrated Children's Day. Across the country, speeches were delivered, photographs were taken and messages of hope were shared. Yet for some families, there was little cause for celebration. Their thoughts were not on ceremonies. Their thoughts were on the safe return of their children.

A nation honours its children not merely through commemorative days but through the protection it provides for them. The true measure of our commitment to the future lies in how seriously we treat the safety and wellbeing of those who will inherit that future.

When children begin to fear schools and teachers begin to fear classrooms, a nation is already in trouble. When society starts accepting such a reality as normal, it risks losing not only sleep, but also its conscience.

Lawrence Efeturi - Assoc.CIEPUK - The Insight Pen.