One hundred days after their abduction, families of 78 students who were abducted in Borno State and concerned citizens of Stae have appealed to President Bola Tinubu and Governor Babagana Umara Zulum to urgently rescue them and other people who were still in captivity.
The appeal was made at a press conference on Friday in the National Assembly where community leaders said the prolonged abductions in Askira-Uba, Lassa, Buratai and along the Chibok route have left families traumatized.
According to the group, 42 pupils and students of Mussa Primary and Junior Day Secondary School in Askira-Uba LGA were abducted on May 15, 2026.
Also, on June 29, gunmen also took 36 students of Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, while they were writing NECO examinations.
Another 38 persons were reportedly kidnapped along Buratai Road to Maiduguri, while other residents have been seized on vulnerable roads across the state.
Speaking under the theme “Bring Our Children Home: 100 Days of Horror, Pain and Suffering Is Enough,” the group said the victims were taken while pursuing education and deserved to return home safely.
“We stand before you today with broken hearts, but also with determination and an urgent demand: Bring our children home,” the group told journalists.
The families described the past 100 days as “sleepless nights, tears and fear” and said the abducted persons should not be reduced to statistics.
The families called on President Tinubu, as Commander-in-Chief, to make the rescue a national priority.
The group also acknowledged the sacrifices of security personnel but insisted that the children’s case must not become another unresolved incident.
“We recognise the enormous security challenges confronting our nation. But the continued captivity of innocent children and civilians cannot be allowed to become another unresolved case,” they said.
The group also urged Governor Zulum to use the full weight of his office to coordinate with federal security agencies and intelligence services to secure the release of the victims.
Citing the rescue of abducted schoolchildren in Oyo State, the group said a similar intelligence-led operation could work in Borno as the Oyo victims were abducted on May 15 and rescued on July 10, 56 days later.
“If it could be done in Oyo, it can be done in Borno,” the group said. “We are not demanding preferential treatment, but equal protection under the law.”
The group listed seven demands, including immediate rescue operations for the Mussa and Lassa students, the Buratai Road victims, and others abducted along the Chibok route.
They also asked for regular updates to families, increased protection for schools and highways, and a sustained intelligence-led operation by all security agencies.
They warned that prolonged abductions risk becoming normalized in Nigeria’s security crisis.
“We cannot allow the passage of time to reduce the urgency. Their lives matter. Their education matters. Their families matter. Their future matters,” the group said.
(The Whistler)
