Atiku Condemns Abduction of Students, Principal, and NECO Official in Kogi State
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has strongly condemned the kidnapping of students, the principal of Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc official in Kogi State. He described the incident as proof that the Nigerian government has abandoned its core duty to protect lives and safeguard the education of its children.
The statement was issued by Phrank Shaibu, Atiku's Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, on behalf of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate.
"An examination hall should be a sanctuary of hope, not a crime scene. A school principal should be preparing students for the future, not negotiating with kidnappers. A NECO official should be supervising examinations, not struggling for survival in the hands of bandits. Yet this has become the grim reality under a government that has normalised insecurity," Atiku said.
Schools as Targets Under Tinubu Administration
Atiku argued that the Kogi attack is not an isolated event but part of a dangerous national trend. He linked it directly to what he described as the Tinubu administration's devaluation of public education through steep increases in WAEC and NECO examination fees, neglect of school infrastructure, and failure to secure learning environments.
"First, they price poor children out of classrooms. Then they fail to protect those who remain in school. This is a double assault on the future of Nigeria. One is economic exclusion; the other is violent intimidation. Together, they amount to a systematic destruction of the dreams of an entire generation," he said.
Atiku also criticised the 2026 national budget, alleging it contained questionable expenditure including a 6.4 billion naira allocation described as being for an "Aso Rock Supporters Club" for the World Cup, while schools remained underfunded and unprotected.
"The same budget that mysteriously accommodates billions of naira for items that defy logic cannot adequately secure the classrooms where Nigeria's children are supposed to learn. That is how governments create the vacuum that criminals exploit," Atiku stated.
Call for Rescue and Security Reform
Atiku called for the immediate and unconditional release of all abducted victims, urging the Federal Government to move beyond issuing routine statements after each tragedy and implement concrete, measurable security reforms across all schools and examination centres in the country.
"History will not remember how many press releases this government issued after each abduction. History will remember whether it protected Nigeria's children or abandoned them. No nation has ever developed by forcing its children to choose between education and survival," he said.
He concluded that the minimum any responsible government owes its citizens is a guarantee that children can pursue education without fear, saying: "The children of Nigeria deserve books instead of bullets, classrooms instead of captivity, examinations instead of evacuation, and hope instead of horror."
