PARENTS and community members of Mussa and Lassa in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State have threatened to storm the Presidential Villa in Abuja within six days if their abducted children are not rescued from Boko Haram captivity.
News Point Nigeria reports that the distressed families, whose children have now spent more than 130 days in the hands of insurgents, issued the ultimatum on Monday during a protest over what they described as the government’s perceived inaction in Askira/Uba.
The children were seized during a wave of abductions that began on May 15, 2026, with parents and school authorities saying the mass kidnapping involved 44 children from Mussa Ward and another 36 from schools in Lassa.
The Borno children were kidnapped on the same day terrorists abducted more than 40 students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. The Oyo victims subsequently regained their freedom after spending 56 days in captivity.
The chairman of the Borno pupils’ parents, Ishaku Suya, who led the protest, made an emotional appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to direct security agencies to secure the release of the children.
“I’m making this loudest call to Mr President that we, the parents of the abducted children of Mussa and Lassa, will take over the streets of the presidential villa if he doesn’t rescue our children as he rescued the Oyo children. You should either kill us, leave us alive, or rescue our children,” he said.
Another grieving mother, Josphin Yohanna, lamented what she described as a disparity in the government’s response to the abduction of schoolchildren in different regions.
She said the swift rescue of the abducted children in Oyo State was clear proof that the Federal Government possessed the operational capacity to act decisively.
“Why shouldn’t the president extend similar urgency to our children in the northeast? We are equally Nigerians,” she said.
The acting district head of Lassa, Wadzani Hammatu, also expressed frustration over the abduction of the children, whom he described as mostly toddlers between the ages of one and three.
“We are pleading with the government to rescue our children because the issue is becoming unbearable. Only God will help us, but the government should try,” he said.
The Emir of Uba, Ali Samaila Mamza, said they had left everything in the hands of God, but appealed to the Federal, Borno State and local governments to put more effort into ensuring the safe return of the children.
Dr Midala Usman Balami, the House of Representatives member representing Askira/Uba and Hawul Federal Constituency, also condemned the prolonged silence and lack of concrete action, noting that the victims had suffered for more than four months.
“A week back, I organised a press conference with the intention of bringing the issue to the limelight, and we are talking with one voice: rescue our children,” Balami said.
He revealed that he had already moved a motion regarding the tragedy in the National Assembly and pledged to follow up vigorously.
Balami urged both the Federal and Borno State governments to deploy all available security resources, emphasising that the situation concerned the lives of innocent citizens who had suffered immensely in the state.
Another parent, Buba, said parents had heard enough from the government and could no longer remain silent.
“Our children were abducted at the same time as those of Oyo, but the Oyo children were rescued because they defied the government’s call to be patient, but ours remain in captivity,” he said.
“No going back on the six-day ultimatum. We were treated like foreigners in our own country for being law-abiding. Why?” he asked.
As of press time, the Presidency had yet to issue an official response to the ultimatum.