RESIDENTS of Borno State have expressed growing concern over what they describe as the Federal Government’s silence following the abduction of 42 primary and junior secondary school students from Mussa community in Askira Uba Local Government Area.
News Point Nigeria reports that the residents argued that the government appeared to have prioritised a similar abduction incident in Oyo State, where pupils and teachers were kidnapped, while allegedly downplaying the tragedy in Borno.
Speaking to this newspaper, the Chairman of the Network of Civil Society Organisations in Borno State, Abubakar Suleiman, said the Federal Government had not demonstrated fairness in its handling of both incidents.
According to him, while the Oyo State incident attracted a high-powered federal delegation, including the National Security Adviser, the Minister of Defence and the Chief of Staff to the President, no such intervention had been witnessed in Borno despite multiple mass abductions.
“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,” Suleiman said.
“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 16th 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.”
Despite his concerns, Suleiman urged authorities to intensify efforts toward rescuing all victims currently 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,” he added.
A prominent political analyst in the state, Abubakar Kareto, echoed similar concerns while condemning both attacks.
He described the abductions in Borno and Oyo as painful reminders that rural schools across Nigeria remain vulnerable targets for criminal groups and insurgents.
“Both abductions of the 42 pupils from the Mussa community in Askira Uba, Borno State, taken by Boko Haram insurgents, and the Oriire incident 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,” Kareto said.
While acknowledging the gravity of both incidents, he argued that there was a noticeable difference in the visibility of the Federal Government’s response.
“The Oyo State attack also occurred on the very day as 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 stated.
According to him, such disparities could create feelings of neglect among affected communities and foster perceptions of unequal security priorities.
“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 victims, feel they belong,” he said.
Also speaking, the President of the Borno South Youths Alliance Forum, Samaila Kaigama, called on political leaders in the state to emulate what he described as the proactive approach taken by leaders in the South-West.
He alleged that while leaders in other regions appeared to be vigorously pursuing the rescue and protection of their people, political actors in Borno seemed more focused on suppressing discussions about the challenges facing Southern Borno.
“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?” Kaigama asked.
“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 further claimed that authorities were quicker to deploy security personnel against protesters than to visibly reassure communities affected by the abductions.
However, responding to the concerns, a presidential source told News Point Nigeria that it was unfair to accuse the Federal Government of paying greater attention to the Oyo abduction than to the Borno incident.
According to the source, President Bola Tinubu has consistently mentioned both incidents in meetings, speeches and security briefings, while security agencies are treating the cases with equal seriousness.
The source insisted that the victims in Borno and Oyo are receiving the same level of attention from relevant security and intelligence agencies.
“The President has mentioned them all and vowed to rescue them in every meeting, speech and briefing. They are receiving equal treatment from the security agencies in the country,” the source said.
The official further rejected suggestions that the difference in public attention stemmed from the President’s South-West origin.
“This has nothing to do with the President being from the South-West. The Oyo abduction simply received more media attention, perhaps because it was the first time such a thing was happening in the South-West,” the source explained.
The source added that the circulation of disturbing videos allegedly showing the abducted Oyo pupils being tortured also heightened public reaction and media coverage.
“The abductors kept releasing videos of those small children being tortured and naturally the public reacted. Social media amplified it. There were protests and school shutdowns in Oyo, which did not happen in Borno,” the source said.
According to the official, several factors contributed to the differing levels of public attention, but none of them reflected any deliberate government preference or discrimination.
“It is a combination of factors that has nothing to do with the government,” the source added.