In a bid to replicate the global #BringBackOurGirls (BBOG) campaign that was launched after the 2014 abduction of 276 Chibok girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Borno State, many Nigerians, especially celebrities, yesterday, ignored the goodwill messages by the federal government, demanding immediate action on the abduction of 42 schoolchildren in Oyo State and another 42 pupils earlier abducted in Borno State.
The celebrities criticized rising instability in the country and questioned the safety of children and citizens using the hashtag #BringBackOurStudents, writes The Guardian.
As Nigeria marked the 2026 Children’s Day yesterday, many people had thoughts for the pupils and teachers of three schools in Ori Ire Local Government Area of Oyo State, who were kidnapped on May 15 and were spending their second week with their abductors on a day the rest of the country was celebrating Sallah.
In his address marking the day, President Bola Tinubu told Nigerians mourning their abducted children that his administration has escalated rescue operations, beefed up school safeguards and offered comprehensive care for survivors.
The president assured the captive youngsters that the government has not abandoned them nor forgotten them as directions have been sent to the security services for their safe rescue.
You are not forgotten as your president and your father. “You are not abandoned,” Mr Tinubu told children, parents and teachers still in captivity in Oyo, Borno and other impacted states. He recognized the national pain: “Some children have been put in fear. “There are parents who cannot be at today’s celebration because their hearts are on one prayer: ‘Bring our children home.’”
Against the backdrop of the Children’s Day theme, “Future Now: Promoting Inclusion for Every Nigerian Child,” the president described the problem as both a moral failure and an urgent security priority.
“To grieving, despondent families, your government will not turn your pain into ceremony. “We will continue the work until children snatched from their homes, schools and communities are returned safely, and until those profiting from this cruelty are held to account,” he said.
The president also directed all relevant security agencies to “sustain and intensify coordinated rescue operations” that are intelligence-based and centered on the safe recovery of minors.
President Tinubu, in a speech after leading the Eid congregational prayers at the Dodan Barracks in Lagos yesterday, urged Nigerians to imbibe the values of tolerance, generosity and peaceful coexistence. He called on citizens to eschew ethnic divisions, hatred and all forms of conduct inimical to national unity.
“We thank Almighty Allah for allowing us to witness another year of Eid-el-Kabir. We praise Him for His mercy and we have to learn the lessons from this season, that is to love one another. “No discrimination, no ethnicity, no hatred, we must share love and be generous to one another in a way that reflects the values of our country and humanity,” the president stated.
The president also criticized violent extremism, stating that banditry is against the teaching of Islam. “Nowhere in the holy writings does it indicate you should go around robbing people, or taking a human life. The sacrifice we speak of… tells us that a child was substituted with an animal. He said: “That is the value of human life.”
Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State yesterday gave the same assurance that the state government was working round the clock with security agencies to rescue pupils abducted from schools in Oriire Local Government Area of the state. Makinde said all relevant security apparatus have been alerted to ensure safe return of the victims and their speedy reunion with their families.
The governor provided the guarantee while addressing with journalists after meeting a Sallah delegation from the Muslim community led by the Deputy Governor, Bayo Lawal, at his private residence in Ikolaba, Ibadan Earlier, the team, made up of key government officials and Islamic leaders, joined Eid-el-Adha prayers at the Agodi Eid venue.
Makinde decried the abduction, saying the occurrence was distressing, but asked residents to be calm and hopeful while security personnel intensify rescue attempts. The state will not rest until the abducted kids and workers are safely rescued, he said.
For her part, the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, exhorted the children of the nation to take ownership of today responsibly and meaningfully as the future they desire is a product of their decisions. This was in her message on the occasion of the Children’s Day 2026 yesterday.
However, the First Lady did not mention the youngsters wasting away in various terrorist dens around the country, the latest being school children and teachers taken from schools in Oyo and Borno states. There was no word of hope, or assurance of their safe release, even as school abduction is one of the greatest difficulties facing school children in Nigeria.
Nigeria is a signatory to the Safe Schools Declaration, but implementation is inadequate, with only around 6.6 per cent of schools registered on national monitoring platforms.
But many Nigerians including activists, media personalities and social media users went to X and Facebook to protest what they called callous celebrations despite increased insecurity impacting children.
One of those who replied was former Minister of Education and co-founder of Transparency International, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, who wrote an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, state governors and members of the National Assembly.
Ezekwesili, who led the 2014 BBOG campaign, called on political leaders not to provide “ghost-written platitudes” as insecurity and neglect beset so many Nigerian children in a letter posted on X.
“Do not open your mouths on 27th May to wish Nigerian children a ‘Happy Children’s Day. Do not dare to appear before cameras, surrounded by neatly arranged youngsters in matching uniforms, acting a tenderness you have never bestowed on the millions of Nigerian children you have abandoned, betrayed and condemned to life of misery,” she wrote.
Celebrating the date without addressing their predicament would be “dishonouring” the abducted pupils and millions of vulnerable Nigerian children, she said.
You are wishing ‘Happy Children’s Day’ to at least 1,799 students abducted in a dozen of the largest abductions since Chibok, and to the 670 children affected by at least 10 school kidnappings in less than two years – a litany of horror compiled not by your security agencies, but by international human rights organisations doing the work your government refuses to do.
“You are wishing ‘Happy Children’s Day’ to some 19 million Nigerian children – 27 per cent- who do not attend school because of the threat of kidnappings, poverty and cultural factors, one of the highest numbers in the world,” she said.
Ezekwesili lashed out at the political elite for what she described as “hypocritical” messages to children who are suffering from poverty, inadequate health care, illiteracy and displacement.
On Wednesday, another human rights activist, Adetoun Onajobi, widely known as Just Adetoun took to her Instagram page to grieve the disappearance of the abducted Oyo schoolchildren.
She said she had not been able to sleep since the event because of the distressing recordings broadcast by the robbers to ease payment of a ransom.
She appealed to First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu to intervene for the children. “The mother of the nation, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, should have also used her message to talk to the children still in captivity as a result of the failure of the government to protect them or ensure they are rescued soon.
Chess advocate, Tunde Onakoya said: “Today is children’s day but gunmen kidnapped 46 innocent children learning in their classrooms in Ogbomosho, Oyo state. It’s been two excruciating weeks already and these children are still not home with their family, suffering out there in the cold, and enduring fear and uncertainty that no child should ever feel. This is a national disaster and the government must utilize every resource available to bring these children home. Nothing else mattered at this moment. We have an obligation to our children to make our country safer.”
Other Nigerian celebrities also expressed concern about the abduction of students in Oyo, terming this year’s Children’s Day celebration unpleasant and sorrowful. Toke Makinwa, Paul Okoye, Ruth Kadiri, Patience Ozokwor, Mercy Eke, Tayo Sobola and Chiwetalu Agu were among those who reacted and took to social media to call for the safe return of the kidnapped kids.
The celebrities used the hashtag, #BringBackOurStudents to condemn the rising instability in the country and question the safety of youngsters and people.
Actress Kehinde Bankole, in her post, recalled the role she played in portraying the ordeals of the Chibok schoolgirls abducted in 2014, underlining that the insurgency in the country is continuing. “We cannot say happy Children’s Day if the children continue to be taken consistently,” she wrote. Now it’s old and young together again. “We are appealing to the government to start a permanent solution.”
Veteran actress Patience Ozokwo popularly known Mama G, termed the 2026 Children’s Day celebration as a sorrowful one for parents, families of kidnapped kids and the nation at large. “How sad this children’s day is, not just for the parents of these abducted children and teachers, but for all of us as a nation,” she wrote.
What can we do to change the narrative? How can they be brought home safely? How are children targeted and we are silent? How will change happen if not through our words? #SoHelpUsGod. #MamaGLovers.” #MamaGLovers.”
Reality TV actress Mercy Eke of the Big Brother Naija Pepper Dem edition questioned if children could really be happy on a day that was meant to celebrate them with the growing insecurity. “Children’s Day; but are the children even SAFE or HAPPY?” Eke wrote. Our hearts go out to the 51 innocent children who should be home playing, laughing and living freely. You are not intended to live in terror or bondage. No child should ever have to go through this misery.
“It is the responsibility of the government and security agencies to these kids and we pray for their safe return to their families. Please bring our kids home safe.
Actress Ruth Kadiri wrote: “There was a country once where people lived freely… now fear lives with us. The air is thick with uncertainty. They say stay, establish your country. Where to stay? There is no longer safety at home. Home is no more home. Our children are taken from us right before our eyes. This is every mother’s nightmare. You may say, it cannot be me. But those mothers, those instructors, those pupils, those children. So, too, thought NYSC corps members. We want a Nigeria that is better.”
Paul Okoye, also known as Rudeboy, simply defined the occasion as “unhappy children’s day”.
Nollywood legend, Chiwetalu Agu also went to his social media saying, “These innocent children and teachers have been held captive for days now, while families continue to live in fear, pain and uncertainty. The question now is, what exactly is the government doing? How can so many children be ripped away from schools, from communities and there is no real consequence, no rescue?
How many more kids need be hurt before we take firmer action against insecurity in this country? Nigeria must not normalise kidnappings, killings and the abduction of school children anymore. The safety of residents, especially children, should never be compromised. We raise our voices and demand prompt action, accountability and the safe return of each victim. God save our children and God save Nigeria. Amen.
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