Femi Falana
Kidnapping of school children began in 2014 when Boko Haram terrorists abducted 300 girls in a government secondary school in Chibok, Borno State. Since then, the abduction of primary school pupils, secondary school students and undergraduates has become a regular occurrence in Nigeria without any solution in sight.
However, in order to prevent further abduction of school children in the country, a Safe Schools Initiative (SSI) was launched in 2014. The SSI is a global intervention fund under the leadership of a former British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown. The SSI is dedicated to mobilise financial resources from government bodies, private organizations, and local communities. The fund generated through the SSI is dedicated to the safety of educational institutions.
The SSI was launched with $10 million from Nigerian business leaders and an additional $10 million pledged by the Federal Government. Reports indicate that over $30 million was mobilised between 2014 and 2021. The federal ministry of finance was tasked with managing the initial Safe Schools Fund. Reports. More recently, the government was reported to have allocated funds through the National Plan for Financing Safe Schools (2023-2026), proposing an investment of over N144.77 billion over the four-year period.
But like all public funds, the fund raised by the SSI has been criminally diverted by the heartless ruling class. Sometime in 2018, a member of the House of Representatives disclosed that the School Safety Fund had not been spent on providing security for schools in the north east zone. The disclosure led the House to mandate its Committee on Internally Displaced Persons, Refugees and Initiatives to investigate the extent of the funds collected and investigate the management of the fund, its custodian and determine whether or not the fund had been applied to the purpose for which it was collected.
Even though the committee was given eight weeks to submit the report, its report has not been published or acted upon by the House. In December 2025, the Senate set up another committee to inquire into the failed $30 million Safe Schools Initiative.The Senate Committee Chairman, Senator Orji Kalu stated that the Nigerian people deserve to know why despite enormous investment and global support, our schools remain unsafe.
Because the fund has not been judiciously spent, terrorists and bandits have continued to abduct students. A few days ago, seven teachers and 25 school children from a Community High School, Ahoro-Esinele, and Baptist Nursery and Primary School in the Ogbomoso Yawota area of Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State were abducted by terrorists. To the eternal shame of the government, one of the teachers, Mr. Michael Oyedokun has been beheaded by the mentally deranged abductors.
At about the same time, gunmen kidnapped 42 children from three schools in the same town in north-eastern Nigeria. The schools are Government Day Secondary School, Mussa Central Primary School, and State Universal Basis Education Board (SUBEB) Secondary School.It has been confirmed that most of the missing children are aged between two and five years. Up till now, no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Although it is the constitutional responsibility of the federal government to ensure the welfare and the safety of lives and property, many state governments have created their own security agencies to combat the increasing wave of terrorism, abduction, armed robbery, and other forms violent crimes. The 36 states and the federal capital territory earmarked a total sum of N525.23bn for security votes and related operations between 2023 and 2025, according to an analysis of figures extracted from their approved budget documents.
The states’ budgets are contained in Open States, a BudgIT-backed website that serves as a repository of government budget data. Despite the huge security votes, governments have failed to acquire vital security gadgets and train security personnel. To compound the crisis of insecurity, the operatives of the state security bodies set up by many state governments are only permitted to use locally made guns to comb the forests and confront terrorists and kidnappers who are armed with AK 47 pistols and modern communication equipment.
To the utter chagrin of many Nigerians, the federal government has filed criminal charges against the leaders of the forest guards, a private initiative set up to protect citizens that have been left at the mercy of criminal gangs. Meanwhile, terrorists who had kidnapped and killed many unarmed citizens are being integrated into the security system. Even the terrorists who had abducted and beheaded citizens are given amnesty on the spurious ground that they have repented.
In July 2025, the Oyo State Government announced that it had purchased two security surveillance aircraft at a cost of N7,763,360,000 (Seven billion, seven hundred and sixty-three million, three hundred and sixty thousand naira). The Commissioner for Information, Prince Dotun Oyelade stated that once the aircraft become fully operational, they would serve as effective support for Amotekun and other security forces in the state, helping to locate and eliminate bandits in their hideouts.
The surveillance aircraft are also expected to help combat illegal mining, kidnapping, and other security threats, particularly in the vast hinterlands of Oyo State. Although the government paid for the two security surveillance aircraft, almost a year ago, they have not been delivered. To prevent citizens from holding the government accountable to account and explain its failure to address the worsening security crisis, citizens are are encouraged to pray and fast to secure the release of kidnapped teachers and school children. As if that is not enough, governments have directed vigilante groups to provide security for the people.
As a matter of urgency, state governments should apply to the Safe School Security Initiative to provide security for all schools in the rural areas in the country. In addition, security gadgets should be acquired for the state security agencies. Apart from contributing counterpart funds to assess the matching grant of over N100 billion in the Universal Basic Education Fund, state Governments should collaborate with the Almajiri and out of school commission to remove 18.5 million children of the poor from the streets and enrol them in schools in line with the provisions of the Child’s Right Education Law of every state.
On October 26, 2020, Philip Walton, a 27-year-old American citizen was abducted in his farm in Massalata village, in Niger State. The kidnappers subsequently demanded a $1 million ransom. As the Nigerian security apparatus could not secure the release of Mr. Walton, the U.S. Department of Defense authorized a rescue mission. In the early hours of October 31, 2020, a team of 30 U.S. Navy SEALs parachuted into a remote bush in Sokoto State, killed 6 out of the 7 kidnappers and recovered Walton recovered unharmed. No US armed personnel was injured during the operation.
The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has linked the rising insecurity in Nigeria to the build-up towards the next elections, insisting that the situation will change once the polls are concluded. He said, “Insecurity is increasing because election is coming, because people don’t know what to do again. Immediately after election, two weeks after election, the insecurity will stop. The insecurity is being sponsored by people.”
One would have expected the leader of the legislature to convene a special session of both houses of the National Assembly with a view to appropriating adequate fund for the armed forces and the police. Since ending abductions cannot wait until 2027, the federal government and state governments should adopt urgent measures to end insecurity in the country. Otherwise, the elections may not hold in many areas as a result of the violence.
