World Press Briefing on the Kidnapping of School Children in Oyo, Borno and Other Parts of Nigeria

Delivered by the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education For All, CSACEFA

Date: Monday, 8 June 2026 | Venue: Abuja, Nigeria

Education is Under Attack: Keep Our Schools Safe, Rescue Every Child, Protect Every Teacher, Secure Every School

Members of the press, distinguished partners, representatives of civil society, education stakeholders and fellow Nigerians,

The Civil Society Action Coalition on Education For All, CSACEFA, convenes this press briefing in response to the disturbing and repeated kidnapping of school children, teachers and education personnel in Nigeria. As Nigeria’s national education coalition working on education advocacy, accountability, policy engagement and service delivery for basic and secondary education, we are deeply saddened, angered and alarmed by recent attacks on schools and school-related movements in Oyo State, Borno State and other parts of the country.

Why This Moment Is Particularly Worrisome

The recent attack in Ahoro Esinele community, Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, where at least 39 school children and seven teachers were reportedly abducted, including children from a secondary school and two primary schools, is a painful reminder that schools are becoming targets of violence. Reports also indicate that one teacher was killed in captivity and security operatives were wounded during a rescue attempt. Within the same period, suspected militants reportedly attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State, where 32 students were reportedly abducted from the school and 10 others seized from nearby homes, bringing the reported number of missing pupils to 42.

These incidents are not isolated. They form part of a growing pattern of attacks on education, where children, teachers, parents and school communities are made targets of fear, violence and trauma. For CSACEFA, this is not just another security incident; it is an attack on childhood, learning, families and Nigeria’s future.

Nigeria has signed, endorsed and adopted international, regional and national commitments affirming every child’s right to safe, inclusive and quality education. Nigeria endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration on 29 May 2019 and has a National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools released by the Federal Ministry of Education in 2021. Yet children continue to be kidnapped, teachers targeted, schools closed and communities left in fear. This gap between policy commitment and children’s lived reality must end.

This moment is even more troubling because the Government of Nigeria, together with the Government of Italy, is co-hosting the 2026 replenishment campaign of the Global Partnership for Education, GPE, which seeks to raise US$5 billion for the GPE Fund and mobilise US$10 billion in co-financing for education systems. Nigeria cannot stand on the global stage to mobilise education financing while, at home, children are being abducted from schools and parents are afraid to send children to classrooms. This is not a good narrative for Nigeria; it weakens our moral voice and undermines national credibility.

The Trajectory of School Attacks and Kidnappings in Nigeria

The kidnapping of school children in Nigeria did not begin in 2026. In April 2014, 276 schoolgirls were abducted from Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State. Amnesty International reported in 2024 that 82 of the Chibok girls were still in captivity ten years after the abduction. Since Chibok, Nigeria has witnessed repeated school abductions in Dapchi, Kankara, Kagara, Jangebe, Afaka, Tegina, Bethel Baptist, Kuriga, Kebbi, Niger, Borno, Oyo and other communities. Available public reporting indicates that since 2014, at least 1,900 students from about 20 schools have been abducted. Amnesty International also warned in November 2025 that repeated abductions are putting a generation at risk, especially after 20,468 schools were reportedly closed across seven states following a major school abduction in Niger State.

The crisis now cuts across regions: North-East, North-West, North-Central and South-West. It affects basic and secondary education; boys and girls; teachers, parents and entire communities. Attacks on education are spreading, deepening and becoming normalised. This normalisation must be rejected.

Verified Snapshot of Major Incidents

Year	State / Region	Reported Incident	Reported Figure / Notes
2014	Borno / North-East	Chibok Government Girls Secondary School	276 schoolgirls abducted; 82 reportedly still in captivity as of 2024.
2018	Yobe / North-East	Dapchi Government Girls Science and Technical College	110 schoolgirls abducted.
2020-2021	Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger	Kankara, Jangebe, Afaka, Tegina, Bethel Baptist and others	Hundreds of boys, girls, pupils, students and teachers abducted across basic, secondary and tertiary institutions.
2024	Kaduna / North-West	Kuriga school community	227 pupils reported abducted, including 187 secondary and 40 primary pupils.
2025	Niger / North-Central	St Mary’s School, Papiri	303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers reportedly abducted.
2026	Borno and Oyo	Mussa Primary/JSS, Askira-Uba; Ahoro Esinele, Oriire LGA	42 pupils reported missing in Borno; 39 schoolchildren and seven teachers reportedly abducted in Oyo.

Schools Must Be Safe Havens, Not Terror Zones

Schools are supposed to be safe spaces where children learn, grow, dream and build their future. They are not places where children should be hunted, abducted, traumatised or killed. How many of these children will have the courage to return to school? How many parents will allow their children back into classrooms if government cannot guarantee safety? When schools become terror zones, parents lose trust, children lose confidence, teachers lose motivation and communities lose hope. Government must not allow the enemies of education to gain the upper hand.

Human, Educational and Economic Impact

School kidnapping destroys learning, worsens Nigeria’s out-of-school children crisis and deepens poverty. UNICEF states that about 10.5 million Nigerian children aged 5-14 years are not in school, while only 61 percent of children aged 6-11 regularly attend primary school and 35.6 percent of children aged 36-59 months receive early childhood education. Every attack pushes more children, especially girls, out of school. Abduction also causes fear, nightmares, anxiety, depression, withdrawal and learning difficulties for children, while parents and teachers carry lasting trauma. Families lose income, spend scarce resources searching for children or relocating, and communities are pushed deeper into insecurity.

Stop Politicising and Tribalising Attacks on Education

CSACEFA strongly warns against the politicisation, ethnicisation, religious framing or trivialisation of attacks on education. A kidnapped child has no political party. A terrified parent has no ethnic colour. A teacher in captivity is not a campaign tool. A closed school is a national wound. Our children, teachers and schools must never be used as instruments of political negotiation, propaganda or settlement of political differences.

CSACEFA’s Position

CSACEFA condemns in the strongest terms the kidnapping of school children, teachers and parents in Oyo, Borno and other parts of Nigeria. We demand the immediate, safe and unconditional release of all abducted children, teachers and school personnel. Government response must move beyond sympathy statements to rescue, prevention, intelligence, accountability, community protection, psychosocial support, transparent communication and sustained implementation of safe school commitments.

Demand on June 12 National Celebration

CSACEFA places on record that if the kidnapped children, teachers and affected citizens are not released before June 12, the Federal Government, State Governments and Local Governments must suspend all forms of national celebration, funfair and ceremonial activities associated with Democracy Day. A nation cannot celebrate democracy while its children, teachers and toddlers are in the bush, exposed to hunger, fear, violence and uncertainty. June 12 should become a day of sober national reflection if these children remain in captivity.

Immediate Demands to Government

• Rescue all abducted children, teachers and affected citizens immediately and safely.
• Provide regular, truthful and humane updates to affected families and the Nigerian public.
• Activate an emergency national school safety response for vulnerable schools in rural, border, forest, conflict-affected and previously attacked communities.
• Deploy coordinated security and community protection systems around high-risk schools without turning schools into military camps.
• Provide psychosocial support to rescued children, affected teachers, parents and school communities.
• Investigate and prosecute perpetrators, sponsors, informants, collaborators and ransom networks.
• Publish a verified national database of attacks on education, disaggregated by state, region, school level, sex, age, disability and student/teacher status.
• Support affected families economically, especially those who have lost income, relocated or withdrawn children from school because of attacks.

Short- and Long-Term Actions

Within the next three months, government at all levels should conduct urgent school safety audits, strengthen School-Based Management Committees and early warning systems, provide safe transport and protected routes for learners, train teachers and school leaders on emergency preparedness, provide temporary learning alternatives where schools are closed, and establish rapid response desks linking schools, local governments, security agencies and education authorities. In the long term, government must fully finance and implement the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools, transparently implement the National Plan on Financing Safe Schools, integrate school safety into education sector plans and budgets, expand trauma-informed teaching and psychosocial support, and provide special protection for girls, children with disabilities, displaced children and learners in remote communities.

Warning Against Government Inaction

CSACEFA states clearly that continued attacks on schools cannot be treated as normal. If government at all levels fails to take decisive, coordinated and measurable action to end this madness, CSACEFA will mobilise the civil society community, education stakeholders, parents, teachers, youth groups and concerned citizens for peaceful civic action. We do not seek confrontation; we seek protection for children. But when schools are attacked repeatedly and children are taken from classrooms, civil society has a duty to speak, organise and demand accountability.

Final Call

CSACEFA reminds the Government of Nigeria that education is a constitutional responsibility, a human right and a public good. No child should have to choose between learning and survival. No parent should fear that sending a child to school may become a permanent goodbye. No teacher should become a target for serving the nation. No school should become a terror zone.

We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the National Assembly, the Federal Ministry of Education, state governors, local government authorities, security agencies, traditional institutions and all relevant actors to act now: rescue every abducted child, protect every teacher, secure every school, support every affected family, hold every perpetrator accountable and keep our schools safe. Nigeria must not allow the enemies of education to win.

Thank you.

Signed:

Civil Society Action Coalition on Education For All, CSACEFA |

Abuja, Nigeria

8 June 2026