Children’s Day in Captivity: ActionAid Demands Urgent Rescue of Abducted Oyo Pupils

“Nigeria cannot celebrate its children with banners and speeches while many of them are held captive in a forest. Truly celebrating our children means keeping them safe, ensuring their right to go to school, and letting them be free.”  Andrew Memedu, Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria.

..... "We commend every security officer risking their lives to bring these children home. But assurances, promises, and briefings are not enough. Nigerian families and these children need results now."

As Nigeria marks the 2026 Children’s Day celebration, ActionAid Nigeria has raised alarm over the continued captivity of 25 schoolchildren and seven teachers abducted during a terrorist attack on schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The organisation described the situation as a “national shame” and called on the Federal Government, security agencies, and the Oyo State Government to intensify efforts toward the immediate rescue of the victims.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday, the Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Andrew Mamedu, expressed grief and outrage that the children remain in captivity nearly two weeks after the coordinated attack on schools in the Ahoro-Esinele and Yawota communities on May 15.

“Tomorrow, while children across the world are being celebrated and praised, 25 children wait in a forest, kept from their families, their schools, and their hopes,” Mamedu said.

He lamented that children who went to school in search of education instead encountered “gunfire and terror,” stressing that the inability to guarantee safety in schools reflects a failure by the Nigerian state to protect its children.

According to him, while ongoing rescue operations by security agencies are acknowledged, families of the abducted victims require concrete results rather than assurances and official briefings.

“We commend every security officer risking their lives to bring these children home. But assurances, promises, and briefings are not enough. Nigerian families and these children need results now,” he stated.

The organisation urged the Federal Government to deploy all intelligence, military, and diplomatic resources necessary to secure the release of the abducted pupils and teachers, describing the incident as a serious threat to national security.

It also called on the Oyo State Government to explore all possible options, including negotiation and rescue efforts, while ensuring continuous support and communication with affected families.

ActionAid further appealed to the National Assembly and the Oyo State House of Assembly to convene emergency sessions focused on the worsening insecurity in vulnerable communities and schools.

The group specifically charged security agencies to utilise their full operational capacity to rescue the victims without delay, warning that every passing moment increases the danger to their lives.

Mamedu stressed that Children’s Day celebrations would be meaningless while Nigerian children remain in captivity.

“Nigeria cannot celebrate its children with banners and speeches while many of them are held captive in a forest. Truly celebrating our children means keeping them safe, ensuring their right to go to school, and letting them be free,” he said.

The organisation also called on civil society groups, religious leaders, the media, and Nigerians to continue demanding the safe return of the abducted children and teachers.

“Children of Nigeria deserve to be celebrated, not mourned. They deserve classrooms, not captivity,” the statement added.