Parents and community members of Mussa and Lassa in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State yesterday vowed to assault the Presidential Villa in Abuja in six days if their abducted children are not recovered from the captivity of Boko Haram.
Distressed families, whose children have already spent over 130 days in the hands of insurgents, showed their anger at a rally over the government’s apparent inaction in Askira Uba, Daily Trust reports.
The children were abducted during a wave of abductions that started May 15, 2026.
The parents and school authorities said 44 youngsters from Mussa Ward and 36 from Lassa schools were among those kidnaped in the mass abduction.
The Borno youngsters were taken the same day terrorists kidnaped over 40 kids and instructors in Oriire LGA of Oyo State. Victims in Oyo were released after 56 days in captivity.
The protest was headed by Ishaku Suya, chairman of the Borno pupils’ parents, who made an emotional appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to instruct security agencies to ensure the release of the youngsters.
“I am making the 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 Oyo children. “Just kill us, or leave us alive, or save our children.” He said
Another mourning mother, Josphin Yohanna, bemoaned the difference in the government’s response to the kidnapping of the school children in different areas.
She added that the speedy rescue of the stolen children in Oyo State was an indication that the Federal Government has the operational capacity to respond decisively.
“Why should the president not show the same urgency for our children in the north east? “we are all Nigerians,” she stated. Join Diaspora Networks
The acting district head of Lassa, Wadzani Hammatu, said he was frustrated by the kidnapping of the children, who he said were largely toddlers between the ages of one and three years.
“We are begging the government to save our children because the situation is getting out of hand. “Only God will help us but the government should try,” he remarked.
“The Emir of Uba, Ali Samaila Mamza said they left everything to God but appealed to the federal, state and local governments to do more to ensure the safe return of the children.
Dr Midala Usman Balami, member of Askira/Uba and Hawul Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, equally lambasted the extended silence and lack of tangible action, stating that the victims have endured for over four months.
“A week back I had a press conference to bring the issue to the limelight and we are talking with one voice: rescue our children,” Balami stated. Premium Access News
“I have already moved a motion in the National Assembly over the tragedy and I will pursue it vigorously,” he said.
He called on the federal and Borno State governments to deploy all security assets at their disposal, stressing that the issue involves the lives of innocent persons who have suffered so much in the state.
Another mom, Buba, said there is enough parents have had with the government and can’t stay quiet anymore.
“Our children were abducted along with those of Oyo, but the Oyo children were rescued because they rejected the government’s call for patience, but ours are still in captivity,” he stated.
“No withdrawal from the six-day ultimatum. We were law-abiding, but we were viewed like strangers in our own nation. “Why?” he enquired.
There has been no formal reaction from the presidency to the ultimatum as at press time. Premium News Access
But security analysts said a large protest by displaced and angry parents at the seat of government in Abuja would offer a major security and political problem to the administration.
One of the analysts, Major General Umar I. Mohammed (rtd), in a chat with our correspondent called on the federal government to show same level of urgency, zeal and commitment to crisis-affected communities in Borno State as it has shown in the rescue of the school children in Oyo State.
He stressed that the basic and foremost duty of any government is to safeguard the welfare and security of all citizens.
Mohammed acknowledged the continuous efforts of the security agencies and the administration, but maintained that all Nigerians must be treated equally throughout emergencies, regardless of where they are situated or their demography. Join Diaspora Networks
“I agree that the government is doing its best but I am saying that the same attention, the same commitment should be given where there is a crisis anywhere, irrespective of whoever is involved,” he added.
The security expert insisted that government must prove its full capacity when the safety of Nigerians is challenged and be a unified guardian of every Nigerian in all the geopolitical zones of the country.
He called on the government to emulate the prompt response in Oyo State to the security problems in the North, especially Borno State.
“I strongly advise the government to show the same level of commitment, the same level of zeal and the same level of interest in what happens in all parts of the country,” he said.
He urged northern populations to be more engaged, vocal and united in demanding that accountability be achieved and crimes condemned.
Niger villagers protest ongoing attacks, commuters stranded
Meanwhile, residents of farming communities in Borgu and Agwara local government areas of Niger State, yesterday, barricaded the Mokwa-New Bussa Road to protest the ongoing attacks on their communities by terrorists.
The demonstration was led by the Borgu Youth Federation with members of numerous associations in Borgu Kingdom including members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) attending.
It was gathered that despite the rain, the demonstrators stopped the road at the Bussa roundabout, an entry point to the Borgu Kingdom, as early as 5.30am.
Commuters heading from Mokwa axis to New Bussa and Agwara have been stranded, it was reported.
Aliyu Abdulmajeed, the Auditor of the Borgu Youth Federation who spoke with our correspondent on telephone, said the protest was occasioned by an alleged statement credited to the Niger State Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago that only 30 persons were kidnaped during the attacks on Jummaat Mosques in Dekara and three other communities.
During the three weeks of the attacks, he said, while the five hundred worshippers were held captive, many communities were deserted.
“This protest involves two LGAs which are Borgu and Agwara LGAs. “We are not happy with the security challenges ongoing in these two LGAs.
“We’ve been in this problem for three years now. The government has failed to intervene, terrorist attacks have turned into tribal fights and the administration is just watching the people die on a regular basis.
“You remember the attacks on Dekara and other villages where around 500 people were abducted. These people are still behind bars.
“Last week 30 of these people were slaughtered and beheaded and relatives were told to go and pick up their bodies.
They were pulled out of the place where they were dumped and buried. We have voiced our concerns on multiple occasions to the right authorities, including the chairman of LG.
“Yesterday we heard the governor said it was only 30 persons that were kidnaped. The governor is not receiving the correct information about what is happening in our neighbourhoods. “Who said to the governor that only 30 people were kidnapped?” he said.
He said instability that escalated into tribal conflicts between farmers and herders have led to the loss of eight lives in Agwara LGA in the last two weeks, adding that hundreds have been displaced.
The Auditor stated that 30 vigilantes were injured in an attack on the Guchana village in Borgu LGA on Saturday and Sunday.
Even these vigilantes cannot get themselves to a modern healthcare center for treatment. Currently they are being treated by different traditional medicine healers. There is no government there. “There is not even a hospital in that area,” he claimed.
Mohammed Nasir Abdullahi, Chairman, Borgu LGA in Niger State, told our correspondent by telephone last week that appropriate security personnel had been sent to the local government area to prevent further terrorist assaults on local villages.
The deployment followed a plea by the Niger State government to the Federal Government after terrorists raided Jumaat mosques in Dekara, Gbezhin, Sabon-Gida and Kpenya on August 21, 2026, abducting an indeterminate number of worshippers.
The attackers later killed 30 of their abductees.
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