Aduda Meets Community Leaders, Promises Action for Victims

There are times when a nation must speak out. When what has happened requires clear and strong words, not political games. This is one of those times. Nigeria is hurting. Oyo State is hurting. Every parent who has packed a child's school bag, every teacher who has stood in front of a class, and every citizen who believes in education is hurting too.

In just a few days, bandits attacked a school in Oyo State, dragging staff and students into the bush. They did this with a casual brutality that shows they know Nigeria rarely holds them accountable. To show their total disregard, they murdered one of the teachers. It was cold-blooded and brutal.

A teacher. Not a soldier. Not a fighter. Not someone involved in any conflict or political issues. Just a teacher. A man who woke up that morning thinking about his students, his lessons, and maybe what to have for lunch. He had his own life and challenges. But he never came home. This is not who we are. This is not what our beliefs teach us. This is not what our cultures allow. And it must not be our future.

Kidnapping school children is not new in Nigeria. We have lived with this horror long enough that we risk accepting it as normal. Names of places have become symbols of our pain: Chibok, Kagara, Kankara, Greenfield University in Kaduna, and Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Niger State. Now, Oyo State joins that list.

But what happened in Oyo feels different. Oyo State is not in the far north, where the federal government has treated security issues as someone else's problem. Oyo is in the southwest. It is home to one of Nigeria’s oldest civilizations. It has a governor, commissioners, local government chairmen, traditional rulers, and the structure of modern governance. Yet bandits walked into a school in broad daylight and kidnapped children and teachers.

What happened to that teacher, those children, and the communities affected by bandits is called terrorism. There is no gentler word to describe it.

Since the insecurity crisis began, Nigerians have told their governments to stop terrorism in our land. Again, we speak plainly, urging the government to act now to save lives. You have the tools of state. You have the armed forces, intelligence services, the police, and the authority given to you by the Nigerian people. The question is not if you have the tools. The question is if you have the will. Use every resource available. Bring back the abducted students and staff alive. Find the criminals who killed that teacher. Do not hunt them for revenge, but for justice. A state that cannot protect its teachers and students cannot call itself a functioning government.

We are tired of condolence visits and messages from political leaders. The families of the victims are not reading press releases. They are at home, looking at the places where their children used to sit, wondering if they will ever see them again. The widow of the murdered teacher does not find comfort in condolences from Abuja or Ibadan. She needs justice. She needs to know that her husband’s death meant something and was not just another tragedy to be forgotten.

Also, the federal government cannot handle this alone. It must not be an excuse for state and local authorities to avoid their responsibilities. Every governor in Nigeria, including the governor of Oyo State, has a duty to protect the lives and property of citizens in their state. Every local government chairman has security duties. Every traditional ruler holds moral authority that can be used. Every community leader and citizen has local knowledge that security agencies need.

From now on, Nigeria must protect its educators and children, or it admits it has failed them.