Former presidential candidate Peter Obi has sounded a urgent warning over the alarming surge in student abd#ctions across Nigeria, describing school children as tragic pawns in what has become an entrenched ransom economy.
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Responding to the recent kidn@ppings in Borno and Oyo states, Obi declared that the breakdown of school safety is no longer a regional crisis it is a direct threat to Nigeria’s future. The attacks, carried out in Mussa Village in Borno State and the Ahoro-Esinele community in Oyo State, span the country’s North-East and South-West, making clear that insecurity has no geographic boundaries.
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Beyond the immediate terror of abduction, Obi stressed the deeper, lasting damage these incidents inflict. Children robbed of their sense of safety are children robbed of their futures and in a country already grappling with one of the world’s highest rates of out-of-school children, fear has become as powerful a barrier to education as poverty.
“Nothing is more heartbreaking for a country than not being able to protect its children,” Obi said. “Besides the immediate fear from these acts, they greatly violate the basic right to education and a safe childhood.”
He warned that the psychological toll on survivors particularly young girls is driving a quiet but devastating dropout crisis, with many abandoning school permanently out of fear for their lives.
Obi was clear that school safety is not merely a logistical challenge but a moral obligation. He called for a coordinated national response built on three pillars: community-led intelligence networks to preempt attacks, reinforcement of vulnerable school infrastructure, and a justice system with real accountability for perpetrators.
Ultimately, Obi framed the protection of children as the foundation of any meaningful national renewal.
“To create the new Nigeria we want, we must prioritize the safety, education, and well-being of our children,” he said.
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