CSO, NUT berate Tinubu’s ‘regional bias’ over pupils’ abductions in Oyo, Borno

…as NUT, NLC protest over abductions in Maiduguri

The North East Civil Society Network and Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Borno State Chapter have launched a scathing critique of Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government, accusing the Administration of displaying “regional bias” in its response to the alarming surge in child abductions across the Country.

In a press statement issued in Maiduguri, Borno State Capital on Tuesday, Ahmed Shehu, the Network’s zonal Chairman, lamented the silence of the Presidency regarding the fate of hundreds of children abducted in Borno State, contrasting it with the swift response triggered in other regions, especially in Oyo State.

​The statement highlights a staggering tally of violence: the abduction of 416 women and children in Ngoshe, Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State three months ago, and the recent kidnapping of 42 school children from Musa Primary School in Askira Uba, Borno.

BusinessDay reports that as of the time of filing in this news report, the Federal Government has not issued.

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​”We are angry. And we have questions. Does that mean some Nigerian children are more precious than others? Does that mean children from the North East are less Nigerian than those from the South?”, Shehu asked.

​The group questioned the rationale behind the Federal Government’s selective deployment of security resources, specifically noting that Borno is the Vice President’s home State.

“When the FG can dispatch a full security team to Oyo State to ensure rescue before they leave, why can’t they do the same for Borno State? How many times has this happened in the North? How many times have we seen this level of response?”, he further queried.

The network expressed disappointment in the silence of elected representatives and political opposition. While the Borno State Government was commended for sending a delegation to console the affected families in Askira Uba, the group emphasised that “consolation without rescue is not enough.”

“Our children are not bargaining chips. They are not statistics,” the statement concluded. “Every child—in Borno, in Oyo, in Zamfara—deserves the full force of the Nigerian State.”