Insecurity: How abduction of Ogbomoso pupils, teachers put Makinde in a quandary

…Political slant of incident worries observers

Today marks 16 days since the Oyo teachers and students’ abduction incident of May 15, 2026, with no rescue in sight.

The crime of the victims of Community High School, Ahoro-Esinle, and Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, was that they love education and were in school to learn, and for the teachers, to earn a living.

As concerns mount over the release of the seven teachers and 39 students, many are worried, especially for the safety of Christianah Akanbi, a two-year-old toddler, who is among those kidnapped.

Sadly, on May 22, a week after, Adesiyan Adegboye, a teacher, who lost his life during the deadly attack and abduction, was buried, with his family bearing their loss.

But the killing of Michael Oyedokun, one of the abducted teachers, has further heightened tension and questioned the importance of the many rescue efforts by the government.

Meanwhile, observers are worried over the political slant given to the incident. It is being painted as if it is an Oyo State issue or that the governor staged the incident.

Some observers have also carpeted Abuja for seemingly being silent.

Obiageli Ezekwesili highlighted the silence of the government on the recent abduction, while criticising the political class for neglecting the Nigerian children.

In her open letter to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, state governors and the National Assembly, she condemned the worsening conditions facing millions of children, including insecurity, illiteracy, poverty and lack of healthcare.

According to Ezekwesili, a former Minister of Education, it was hypocritical for leaders to celebrate Children’s Day on May 7th while many children remained victims of kidnappings, school closures and severe hardship across the country.

“Do not dare stand in front of cameras, surrounded by carefully arranged children in matching uniforms, to perform a tenderness you have never extended to the millions of Nigerian children you have abandoned, betrayed, and condemned to lives of suffering.

“You are wishing ‘Happy Children’s Day’ to at least 1,799 students seized in a dozen of the largest abductions since Chibok, and to the 670 children affected by at least 10 school kidnappings in less than two years – a litany of horror compiled not by your security agencies, but by international human rights organisations doing the work your government refuses to do.

“You are wishing ‘Happy Children’s Day’ to around 19 million Nigerian children – 27 per cent- who do not attend school due to the threat of kidnappings, poverty and cultural factors, one of the highest numbers in the world,” she wrote on X.

Yet, some are even politicising the situation, with the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State, blaming the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde for what it described as a surge in kidnappings, violent attacks, and other security breaches across the state.

Though President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has promised rescue and the safe return of the abductees, the Oyo case is taking a different dimension as the abductors are insisting on negotiating with Governor Makinde only.

“We don’t care what the government or anybody does to bring our children home. We are in pain and can only be relieved when they are back and safe,” Matthew Olakunle, a concerned parent, said during the peaceful protest of Oyo teachers in Ibadan recently.

Toeing the same line as Olakunle, Simon Eghor, a human rights activist, decried that a country where parents fear sending their children to school, and teachers are uncertain about their safety, cannot claim to be securing its future.

The Ugep Cross River-born lawyer criticised the government and security operatives for their continued offer of assurances without visible progress.

“From Chibok girls, Kebbi school girls to Niger, Kwara and now Oyo, there have always been promises of rescue and safe return of the innocent students, whose crime is going to school,” he said.

“Our government should be tired of making promises after every abduction; it should rather prevail on the kidnappers. They should not treat them like their campaign promises, which are never fulfilled because lives and destinies are involved here”.

But teachers seem to have woken up this time, by pressing harder for the release of their colleagues and students, and the prevention of further occurrences.

Oyo teachers are on the neck of Governor Makinde, who had earlier assured rescue and that he would not give in to terror. The teachers are insisting that the efforts so far are not enough, as the Oyo State Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology announced sweeping new safety measures affecting both public and private schools across the state, including the suspension of field trips by schools and limiting all activities within the school premises.

The teachers, under the Oyo State Teachers’ Action Group and the Nigeria Teachers’ Congress, insisted on urgent government intervention and the safe return of the victims during their peaceful protest.

According to Bunmi Thomas, a reverend and national president of the Nigeria Teachers’ Congress, who acknowledged efforts by the government, the Oyo abduction case requires more urgent and decisive action by the government to prevent further attempts by the perpetrators, who seem emboldened now than before.

“If the government is trying and the desired result has not been achieved, then more efforts must be intensified. We want the government to do more to rescue the teachers and pupils,” he said.

Considering that some teachers did not participate in the protest, the Oyo State Teachers’ Action Group clarified that the protest was not against Governor Makinde, but a subtle pressure on the government, especially Abuja, to act faster.

“They like to politicise everything in Nigeria. The protest was for everyone and had no undertone. I am happy that the governor assured that no teacher involved in the protest would be victimised,” Oladimeji Adisa, a teacher, said.

On her part, Agnes Onche, a retired director in the Ministry of Education and a school proprietress, thinks that the state government can adopt some preventive measures to secure schools and should not always look to Aso Rock for help.

“Use what you have. If it is local hunters, train and empower them to fight back. I learnt that there is an Amotekun vigilante group in the South West. What are they doing?

“The governors should fight back with whatever they can lay their hands on because the issue has gotten out of hand and nobody is safe,” she said.

Onche is putting pressure on both the federal government and Oyo State because children as young as two and three years old are still in the bush.

“That age range is too tender to be exposed to rain and harsh weather conditions. These victims are in danger, and nobody knows who could be next. So, nobody should politicise the issue at hand; we as a people should all join hands to fight back our enemies, enemies of education and civilisation, enemies of girl-child, whose daughters are safe somewhere and a threat to our sovereignty,” she urged.

Apart from the rescue efforts, Onche called for preventive measures such as the Safe School initiative, improved security arrangements and deployment of security personnel to educational institutions.

But some security experts are worried over the insistence of the abductors on negotiating only with Governor Seyi Makinde, saying that it is a new dimension, posing great danger to the fight against insurgency.

“I watched on television when Governor Makinde assured his people that he would not surrender to terror. This may be his answer to the insistence of the terrorists on negotiating ransom and release of the victims only with the governor,” Bem Hembafan, a retired senior security officer, said.

The Abuja-based security expert warned that if the terrorists succeed with the Oyo case, it will usher in a new and deadly dimension to the insecurity challenge.

“If they insist on negotiating with the governor only and end up getting billions of naira as ransom, then Oyo State is finished because they will come again.

“Sadly, if kidnapping is that lucrative, why will the unemployed or fresh graduates look for jobs?

“The government needs to do everything possible to prevent this deadly dimension from taking root,” he warned.

“We want the government to attach security personnel to all government schools. We cannot continue to work while living in danger,” Thomas said.

Citing past experiences, Kalu Irem, a forensic expert, warned that negotiating with terrorists will backfire on the government as they become emboldened, knowing that the government will succumb to little pressure.

“Those of us who went through counter-terrorism training know that the best approach to abduction is not ransom payment, but fighting back with intelligence and coordinated attacks.

“I don’t see that intelligence and coordination when people heading defence are not competent and the president knows but refuses to sack them because of his quest for 2027,” he said.

He insisted that Nigeria’s sad insecurity reality will not happen during the military era because it would be fire for fire, stepping on every necessary toe, and no politicking.

Though, as part of rescue efforts, Olufemi Oluyede, chief of defence staff, ordered the deployment of special forces and aerial surveillance assets to Oyo State, on his part, Governor Makinde, who is now on the hot seat, is also making efforts for the rescue of the victims.

Apart from the suspension of field trips by schools in the state, deployment of security across schools and the adoption of the safe school initiative, the governor is stepping up air surveillance. He disclosed recently that the state’s surveillance aircraft had arrived in Nigeria and were at the Nigerian Air Force hangar in Lagos for reassembly and installation.

According to him, the aircraft is expected to become operational by the end of June and will enhance monitoring along the Oyo-Kwara border and the international boundary between Oyo State and the Republic of Benin.

Makinde noted that the surveillance project was initiated before the current abduction as part of broader efforts to strengthen the state’s security architecture.

While rescue efforts are going on, Kunle Olawunmi, a retired Naval Commodore and security expert, who blamed Nigeria’s worsening insecurity on “collective incompetence in governance”, insisted that prevention of the abductions is better than rescue efforts, hence the need of competent hands to handle sensitive issues like insecurity.

Still on a lasting solution, Olawunmi highlighted the need for competent leadership and merit-based appointments within the security architecture, while insisting that deploying more troops and police personnel alone would not solve the country’s security crisis.