Protesters March In Abuja Over School Kidnappings

.Activists and civil society groups took to the streets of the nation’s capital, Abuja, on Thursday, calling on the government to act swiftly in securing the release of students and teachers seized from schools in Oyo State.

The demonstrators demanded immediate intervention to free those taken from three schools in the state, as well as justice for a teacher killed during an attack the previous month.

The protest unfolded against the backdrop of fresh reports from police that armed men had kidnapped no fewer than seven students from a polytechnic in Zamfara State, located in the country’s north-west.

Public anger continues to mount over the persistent targeting of educational institutions by kidnappers across Nigeria.

“Enough is enough. Enough of kidnapping, enough of killing. They are killing our children like chicken. We are not animals,” said activist Arije Christy Alao.

“They’ve made us refugees in our own country. And we are not going to allow it again,” she added.

“We have tolerated a lot, and we are tired. We are tired. It has started choking us.”

Over the last ten years, armed groups have abducted more than 1,500 students and school staff, frequently holding victims for ransom despite repeated government interventions.

Activists maintain that the authorities have fallen far short of what is needed to address the crisis.

Former presidential aspirant and activist Omoyele Sowore, whose Take It Back Movement was among the organisers of the demonstration, expressed deep concern for children currently in captivity.

“We are here against all odds, … brushing against soldiers who are armed to the teeth,” Sowore said.

“Soldiers who should be in the bush looking for the children.

“We are serious about it, and we are telling you this might as well be the beginning of the revolution we have been talking about.”

Sowore has long been a vocal critic of the government’s approach to insecurity, consistently pushing for stronger accountability measures from the country’s security apparatus.