Borno residents slam FG’s silence over 42 abducted students

 

By Isah Ojo

Residents of Borno State have expressed concern over the federal government’s silence since the abduction of 42 primary and junior secondary school students in Mussa community, Askira Uba Local Government Area of the state.

The residents noted that the government had prioritised a similar incident in Oyo State, where pupils and teachers were kidnapped, while downplaying the abduction in the state.

Speaking exclusively with our correspondent on Monday, the Chairman of the Network of Civil Society Organisations in the state, Abubakar Suleiman, said the federal government is not fair to the victims of both incidents.

He said, “The federal government visited Oyo State with a high-powered delegation, including the National Security Adviser, Minister of Defense, Chief of Staff to the President, among others, with a helicopter and landed at the local government where the abduction took place.

“In the case of Borno, around 416 people were kidnapped in Ngoshe on the 3rd of May. There has not been any federal government intervention. We also had another incident on the 16 of May; 42 students were kidnapped in Askira Uba. There was no federal government delegation. This doesn’t demonstrate that the federal government is treating victims equally,” Suleiman added.

He, however, called on the government to intensify search and rescue operations for all the victims in captivity.

“Our call is for the government to intensify the search, to come and interact with parents and assure them that their children will be united with them as soon as possible. They should also provide us with updates on the issue and let us know when the children are coming back,” Suleiman added.

A Prominent Political Analyst in the state, Abubakar Kareto, also echoed similar sentiments while condemning the attacks.

He said, “Both abductions of the 42 pupils from the Mussa community in Askira Uba, Borno State, taken by Boko Haram insurgents, and the Oriire in Oyo State, where 46 students and teachers were taken, are heartbreaking reminders that rural schools remain highly vulnerable soft targets and are exposing how unsafe it is to send kids to school in Nigeria.

He said that, however, a visible and unsettling imbalance exists in how the federal government responded to these two attacks, for vindication.

“The Oyo State attack also occurred on the very day that of Askira Uba. While the government launched a rapid, high-profile response to the Oyo incident, including a federal visit led by the Chief of Staff and accompanied by the National Security Adviser, which also followed with a decision to immediately deploy 1,000 forest guards, the Borno abduction has mostly received standard rhetorical condemnations with no visible energy that can be compared in any way to the Oyo State incident,” he said.

According to him, such an uneven approach will create unease among the neglected communities and clearly signal a tiered security priority, where a mass abduction by a designated terrorist group in the Northeast deserves the same executive urgency and aggressive tactical assets as an attack in any other region.

“Therefore, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the military high command should deploy the exact intensity of kinetic and intelligence resources to safely rescue the Askira Uba children. This will make everyone, not only the victim, feel belonged,” he stated.

Meanwhile, the President of the Borno South Youths Alliance Forum, Samaila Kaigama, urged political leaders in the state to emulate their counterparts in the southwest, particularly in handling issues affecting the populace.

He said that while other leaders across the country are making visible efforts to rescue and protect their people, the Borno State Government and the political powers surrounding it appear more interested in silencing discussion of the challenges facing Southern Borno than in addressing them.

“Governor Zulum, where are our 40-plus Askira Uba children? Is Governor Makinde of Oyo State doing something you ought to have done to get federal intervention?

“Over 40 students were kidnapped, and the only visible effort from those in charge was the presentation of ₦10 million to traditional rulers in Askira Uba. The people are asking: for what exactly? Is it compensation for the pain and suffering the affected families are going through?” he said.

He further noted that the state government is very proactive in deploying military force against protesters in the state.

“However, they were swift enough to deploy battalions of military personnel to a protest ground to prevent the exposure of what many perceive as their undemocratic and nonchalant attitude toward the masses.

“Let the world know and remember: no life is better than another, and no zone in Nigeria is more important than another,” he said.