..says such attacks be treated as national emergency
NEWSDAILYNIGERIA: The Nigeria Union of Teachers, Kaduna State Wing, on Tuesday staged a nationwide solidarity rally, calling on government to treat attacks on schools and abductions of students and teachers as a national emergency.
Addressing a press conference with “heavy hearts”, the union said the protest was driven by pain over repeated school attacks across the country. “We are gathered here not by choice but by pain. Our children who are supposed to be the future of Nigeria are in captivity. Teachers who are saddled with the responsibility of shaping the future of this country have been silenced,” the union stated.
While the rally was triggered by recent abductions in Oriire LGA, Oyo State, the NUT said it was also responding to a pattern of school kidnappings that remain unabated. The union listed several incidents, including:
- April 2014, Chibok, Borno: 276 female students kidnapped; over 90 still missing
- Feb 2018, Dapchi, Yobe: 110 schoolgirls taken; 5 killed
- Dec 2020, Kankara, Katsina: Over 300 boys abducted, later released
- Feb 2021, Kagara, Niger: 27 students abducted, 1 student killed
- Feb 2021, Jangebe, Zamfara: 317 girls abducted, later released
- Mar-Apr 2021, Kaduna: 39 students taken from Afaka; 20+ from Greenfield University, 5 killed
- July 2021, Chikun, Kaduna: Over 100 students from Bethel Baptist taken, released in batches
- Mar 2024, Kuriga, Kaduna: 287 students seized; 137 freed in March
- Nov 2025, Maga, Kebbi: 25 girls abducted, vice principal killed
- Nov 2025, Papiri, Niger: Over 300 students and teachers abducted from St. Mary’s Catholic School
- May 2026: 26 children taken from an orphanage/school in Kogi; further abductions in 3 schools in Oriire, Oyo
“When a child is abducted, every school child loses a piece of their freedom. When one teacher falls, every teacher stands afraid. When schools become targets, our whole future bleeds,” the union said. “Today, we as parents, teachers and citizens whose hearts are broken, choose solidarity over fear.”
Union’s Demands:
- Immediate release of all students and teachers in captivity, treated as a national emergency. “Every hour a child spends in captivity is an hour too long. Deploy every resource – intelligence, negotiation and force if need be.”
- Make schools safe: Provide security, fencing, and patrols in all schools, especially rural and vulnerable areas.
- Prosecute perpetrators: Enforce stiffer penalties for kidnapping educators to serve as deterrence and deliver justice for fallen teachers.
- Support families and survivors: Provide counselling, financial and medical care for families of the missing, traumatized escapees, and grieving colleagues.
- Engage communities: Involve parents, traditional leaders, trade unions, and civil society in security efforts.
The NUT warned that it had earlier cautioned government through a paper titled “Stop the attack on schools, teachers and learners now, not until we perish”. It urged government not to allow the situation to degenerate to a point where the union would be forced to down tools.
“An injury to one is an injury to all. We will not grow tired of asking, we will not grow quiet with grief. Until the last child and teacher is released and the last school is safe, our demands stand. Solidarity forever,” the union declared.
Signed: Comr. Sunday Garba, State Treasurer for State Chairman; Adamu Ayuba Kaltungo, State Secretary