With the formal lifting of the ban on campaign activities ahead of preparations for the 2027 general elections, focus will now shift to full campaigning, sadly at the expense of real governance. This has been the trend in every pre-election year.
While the nation focuses on the election, certain issues cannot be allowed to take a back seat. One such issue is the rescue of 78 schoolchildren from Askira-Uba who were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists.
On 16 May 2026, 42 students and pupils were abducted when Boko Haram terrorists attacked Mousa Primary and Junior Secondary School in the Askira/Uba local government area of Borno State. Forty-four days later, the same terrorists attacked Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, in the same Askira/Uba local government area, and abducted 36 students and one teacher.
They took 42 students and pupils. Nothing happened, and that appeared to embolden them to strike again, taking 36 others, including a teacher. It’s been exactly 99 days since this incident took place. Nothing tangible has been done. Nothing.
It is distressing to note that the Askira/Uba incident is one of the many such school abductions that have become a trend in recent times, sadly, in areas where there are inordinately high numbers of children not in school, amid high levels of illiteracy and poverty.
Borno State has no fewer than 800,000 school-age children roaming the streets. These out-of-school children have become ready tools in the hands of individuals who use them to exacerbate the raging insecurity threatening livelihoods in the state and, indeed, the entire northeast.
Sadly, in the same state where concerted efforts ought to have been made to ensure expanded enrolment and retention of children in schools, 78 students, pupils, and teachers have been held for over one hundred days by abductors.
The level of silence and apparent inaction, even from the Borno State government, regarding the rescue of these children is alarming. What is the Governor Zulum administration doing to ensure the swift rescue of these children? What is the nation doing in this regard? The silence is worrisome, and the inaction is terrifying.
Given how these terrorists behave, there are grounds to believe that these children have been subjected to the cruellest treatment ever inflicted by their abductors. What they are enduring can best be imagined as harsh weather, hunger, and even mosquito bites, all of which further endanger their lives and may well be their lot now. As for their parents, God alone knows their miseries. No parent sleeps well knowing their child is in the hands of abductors.
The fact that we carry on with life as usual, knowing full well that innocent children are in captivity and exposed to one of the worst forms of inhuman treatment simply for daring to seek an education, says a lot about our humanity and conscience as a nation.
As a newspaper, we believe and have said repeatedly that the Nigerian state has failed these children and, indeed, all those kidnapped in the series of abduction incidents that have occurred in different parts of the country, especially school abductions, just as it has failed their parents. There is absolutely no reason for the rescue to be taking this long.
In the days ahead, politicians, including those in Borno State, will board campaign trains and visit communities to seek votes. What will they tell residents of communities in Askira/Uba and other local government areas whose children are still being held by kidnappers?
In our considered opinion, the most fitting course for the Nigerian state is to halt all campaign activities and devote considerable energy to the rescue of these children and, indeed, all those being held captive by abductors.
There is a sense in which the continued detention of these children by their captors, together with the apparent inaction by both the state and federal governments, creates the impression that they have been forgotten. Like the parents of these children, we believe the Nigerian government has not done enough to secure their rescue.
The relevant security agencies, the state and the federal government should intensify efforts to ensure the safe release of all kidnapped victims in Borno State. Another day without rescuing these children is a further indictment of us as a nation.
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