Nigeria’s political leadership stands accused of abandoning its fundamental duty to protect citizens, choosing instead to focus on electoral ambitions while schoolchildren languish in the hands of kidnappers and communities across the nation endure relentless violence. Peter Obi, who ran as the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, issued a scathing critique of the country’s priorities on Tuesday, drawing attention to a security landscape that appears to be spiraling beyond control.
Two weeks after armed groups abducted dozens of students from schools in Borno and Oyo states, the children remain in captivity while government officials appear more interested in announcing the formation of rescue committees than in executing actual operations to free them. The former Anambra State governor pointed specifically to the kidnapping of 46 people, including 39 students, seven teachers and a school principal, taken from three schools near Ogbomoso in Oyo State. In a separate incident on May 15, suspected Boko Haram insurgents seized between 48 and 51 nursery, primary and secondary school pupils from the Mussa Community in Borno State. None of these children have been recovered.
The criticism comes against a backdrop of escalating violence that has touched nearly every region of the country. Sunday’s on Gwon Ajang Village in Plateau State left at least seven people dead and ten others wounded when terrorists struck the Barkin Ladi area. In Kogi State, armed assailants raided the Ayegunle Igun Community, kidnapping more than 25 residents and ing one person during what witnesses described as a coordinated operation. Even police officers, theoretically trained and armed to confront such threats, have fallen victim to the violence. Two officers were ed in a recent in Anambra State by armed criminals operating with apparent impunity.
Obi’s statement reflects growing frustration among Nigerians who watch their leaders jockey for position ahead of the 2027 elections while basic security remains elusive. Schools, once considered safe havens for learning and development, have become hunting grounds for criminal enterprises that thrive on ransom payments and political inility. The pattern of s suggests a security apparatus either overwhelmed by the scale of the challenge or hampered by systemic failures in intelligence gathering, coordination and response capabilities.
For a nation not officially at war, the frequency and audacity of these s raise uncomfortable questions about state capacity and political will. Kidnapping has evolved from an occasional crime into what many observers now characterize as a parallel economy, one that generates millions in ransom payments while traumatizing entire communities. Parents face an agonizing calculation each morning when sending their children to school, weighing the importance of education against the very real possibility that their sons and daughters might not return home. Teachers work under the shadow of violence, knowing they too are targets for groups that view educational institutions as soft targets with high value hostages.
Whether Nigeria’s political class will heed calls to prioritize security over electoral positioning remains an open question. The 2027 election cycle, already well underway despite being more than a year away, consumes enormous energy and resources that could theoretically be redirected toward strengthening security infrastructure, improving intelligence coordination and providing the kind of sustained military and police presence that might deter future s. Without a fundamental shift in priorities, more children will likely disappear from their classrooms, more communities will bury their dead, and more Nigerians will conclude that their leaders value power more than the lives they were elected to protect. The next few weeks will reveal whether this latest outcry produces substantive action or simply fades into the background noise of a nation grown weary of violence and empty promises.
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