By Samson Oyelere_
The news of the abduction of teachers and students around Ogbomosho, Oyo State, is not just disturbing. It is a declaration of war on education, on knowledge, and on the future of the South West.
When armed criminals can storm schools, drag out teachers and students, and vanish into the bush while the state looks on helplessly, then we must admit the obvious: those constitutionally empowered to protect lives and property have failed.
Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution is clear , "the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government" . Yet today, the builders of our children and the future leaders themselves are in captivity. If the state cannot secure classrooms, what exactly is the state securing? The future is already blinking. If we do nothing, it will go dark.
To the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Oyo State Wing, and to every teacher who now teaches with fear in their heart: we see you, we stand with you. To the parents and families whose children and colleagues were taken in broad day light around Ogbomosho, we share your pains. No parent should go to bed wondering if their child will return alive. No teacher should go to school wondering if it will be their last day.
We mourn with you, but we will not mourn in silence. Your pain is the pain of every Nigerian who still believes that education is the only ladder out of poverty and ignorance.
Let it be said plainly: security plans and their execution are not a Twitter thread or a Facebook press release.
The open execution of one of the abductees after their details were plastered online should shame every official and commentator who believes that leaking intelligence for clout is strategy. These criminals monitor the media. Every careless post, every premature announcement, every political statement puts the lives of those still in captivity at greater risk.
If you do not have actionable intelligence, stay silent. The lives of our teachers and students are not a media campaign.
The abductors are not random. Their target is deliberate. They are coming for schools, for teachers, for students. Their goal is to drive fear into the heart of the knowledge economy of the South West.They must not succeed.
To traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders, NUT, civil society, and security agencies: do not relent. Do not normalise this. Every day that passes without decisive action is a day we hand our future to criminals.
The Oyo State Government must move beyond condolence statements. We demand three immediate actions:
1 Intensify efforts to secure the immediate and safe release of all abducted teachers and students in Ogbomosho and across the state. Mobilise every resource, coordinate with federal security agencies, and treat this as the emergency it is.
2 Engrave the names of the fallen heroes in the annals of Oyo State. Those killed in the line of duty educating our children deserve state honours, not silence. Their families must be compensated and remembered.
3 Rejig the security architecture of the state, especially around schools and rural communities in Ogbomosho, Saki, Iseyin, and Ibarapa. Intelligence gathering, community policing, and rapid response units must be functional, not ceremonial.
To our dear brothers and sisters this is the time for citizens to act like sons and daughters of the warlords and nation-builders we claim as ancestors.
If you see something, say something. The wolves in human skin live among us. They rent houses in our towns, they trade in our markets, they speak our language. Silence is complicity.
Community vigilance, timely intelligence to security agencies, and refusal to pay ransom that funds more abductions are the minimum we owe ourselves.
Let us remember that education is the only inheritance that cannot be stolen, unless we allow fear to close our schools. The attack in Ogbomosho is an attack on every child in Iseyin, every teacher in Saki, every student in Ibadan and the entire south west.
We call on the Federal Government to support Oyo State with the resources and intelligence needed. We call on the National Assembly to legislate stiffer penalties for kidnapping and to fund the safe school initiative properly.
To the abductors: you can kidnap bodies, but you cannot kidnap knowledge. You can kill a teacher, but you cannot kill the idea that every child deserves to learn.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers, EDOLOOKOE State Wings, will not be silent. We will not be intimidated. We will not allow the future of Oyo State to be mortgaged by criminals.
Release our teachers. Release our students. Secure our schools. Or step aside for those who can.
0 Comments