The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Kaduna State branch, on Tuesday staged a nationwide solidarity rally over the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers, calling on the Nigerian government to urgently treat attacks on schools and the abduction of students and teachers as a national emergency.
Addressing newsmen in Kaduna, Comrade Sunday Garba, the state treasurer of the union, said the protest was driven by the pain of repeated attacks on schools across the country. He said they gathered not by choice but because their children, who are supposed to be the future of Nigeria, are in captivity.
He lamented: “Teachers who are saddled with the responsibility of shaping the future of this country have been silenced.”
Garba explained that the rally was triggered by the recent abduction in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, stressing that it was also a response to a pattern of school kidnappings that remains unabated.
The union observed that in April 2014, 276 female students were kidnapped from Chibok in Borno State and that more than 90 are still missing. It added that in February 2018, 110 schoolgirls were abducted in Dapchi, Yobe State, while five were killed.
The union stated that in December 2020, more than 300 boys were abducted in Kankara, Katsina State, and were later released. It added that in February 2021, 27 students were abducted in Kagara, Niger State, while one student was killed.
The union further stated that in February 2021, 317 girls were abducted in Jangebe, Zamfara State, and later released. It also pointed out that between March and April 2021, 39 students were kidnapped from Afaka in Kaduna State, while about 20 students of Greenfield University were abducted, with five of them later killed by bandits.
“In July 2021, in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, over 100 students of Bethel Baptist High School were kidnapped and later released in batches. In March 2024, 287 students were abducted in Kuriga, Kaduna State,” he said.
He further recalled that in November 2025, 25 girls were abducted in Maga, Kebbi State, while the vice principal was killed. He also noted that in November 2025, more than 300 students and teachers were abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State. In May 2026, 26 children were taken from an orphanage/school in Kogi State, while other abductions occurred in three schools in Oriire, Oyo State.
Garba said that when a child is abducted, every schoolchild loses a piece of their freedom.
“When one teacher falls, every teacher stands afraid. Schools have become targets,” he added.
The union therefore called for the immediate release of all students and teachers in captivity, insisting that the issue should be treated as a national emergency.