Parents Of Abducted Borno Pupils Mount Pressure After Oyo Rescue

Families of pupils abducted from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State have appealed to the federal government to intensify efforts to rescue their children, saying they feel abandoned two months after the incident.

Their appeal comes barely 48 hours after security forces rescued teachers and pupils abducted from three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The abductions in both Borno and Oyo occurred on May 15, 2026.

More than 40 pupils and teachers were kidnapped from the Mussa school, including children as young as two years old.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and the families said they have received no contact or information about the whereabouts of their loved ones.

Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, chairman of the parents’ committee, Mr Ishaku Suya, said the community has remained in mourning and anxiety since the abduction.

He said the only government official who visited the families was the Borno State Commissioner for Education, who assured them that efforts were being made to rescue the victims.

“Since then, we have not heard anything again. We were happy to hear that the Oyo pupils and teachers were rescued, but our own children have been forgotten,” he said.

Suya appealed to the federal government to deploy the same commitment shown in the Oyo rescue operation to secure the release of the abducted Borno pupils.

“We are Nigerians too. We are asking the government to show the same commitment and urgency in rescuing our children,” he said.

One of the parents, Sale Buba, said the uncertainty over the fate of the children has left families traumatised.

“We do not know where our children are or the condition they are in. While efforts were made to rescue the Oyo victims, nobody seems to be talking about ours,” he said.

Another parent, Ishaku Joe, said the silence surrounding the Borno abduction had deepened the pain of the affected families.

“We don’t know whether they are alive, whether they are eating or what they are going through in the bush. We feel neglected,” she said.

Another parent, Mr James, said it was painful that they felt abandoned by the government despite its responsibility to protect all citizens.

Protesters demand rescue of abducted Borno pupils

Meanwhile, a coalition of youths and students staged a peaceful demonstration in Maiduguri to protest insecurity and demand the rescue of the abducted pupils.

Carrying placards with various inscriptions, the protesters urged the federal government to deploy all available resources to rescue children abducted from Mussa, Lassa and other communities.

Addressing the protesters at the Post Office area of Maiduguri, the convener, Suleiman Muhammed, commended the rescue of the Oyo pupils and teachers but urged the government to replicate the same efforts in Borno.

“We believe the government will not discriminate against any part of the country. The same determination used in Oyo should be applied to rescuing children still in captivity in Borno,” he said.

He also urged the government to create jobs and economic opportunities for young people to reduce crime and insecurity, while warning against the payment of ransom, saying it only encourages more kidnappings.

Another protester, Muhammed Mustapha, questioned why the Borno victims had received far less attention despite being abducted on the same day as the Oyo pupils.

“These children were kidnapped on the same day, yet nobody is talking about those taken from Mussa or the recent Lassa school abduction. We deserve an explanation,” he said.

He called on residents to continue supporting security agencies and urged the government to provide troops with the equipment needed to end the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East.

CAN demands action in other states

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has urged the federal government and security agencies to sustain efforts to rescue victims of abduction in other parts of the country, saying the successful rescue of pupils and teachers kidnapped in Oyo State should not overshadow families still waiting for their loved ones.

In a statement on Sunday, CAN President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, welcomed the rescue of the pupils, teachers and other victims abducted from schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State after 56 days in captivity.

He thanked God for preserving the victims and commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Security Adviser, the Armed Forces, intelligence agencies, the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services (DSS), the Amotekun Corps, local hunters and vigilantes for their roles in the rescue operation.

Okoh also praised Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde for supporting the affected families and for pledging rehabilitation for the rescued victims.

While celebrating the development, the CAN president said many families in Borno, Niger and other states were still waiting for news of relatives being held by terrorists and other criminal groups.

He said the rescue in Oyo should strengthen the nation’s resolve to secure the release of every Nigerian still in captivity, stressing that all victims deserve equal attention regardless of where they were abducted.

“Our compassion must never become selective, and our concern must never depend on geography, ethnicity or religion,” he said.

Okoh also called on governments, faith-based organisations and humanitarian groups to provide counselling, medical care and psychosocial support for the rescued pupils, teachers and their families.

He stressed that schools must remain safe places for learning, not centres of fear, adding that no parent should have to choose between sending a child to school and keeping the child safe.

The CAN president urged Nigerians to continue praying for those still in captivity and to support security personnel working to restore peace, expressing hope that the country would eventually reach a point where citizens could move freely without fear.(Daily trust)