By Julienne Okisho
ActionAid Urges Urgent Rescue of Abducted Oyo Schoolchildren as Nigeria Marks Children’s Day
As Nigeria joins the world to celebrate Children’s Day 2026, ActionAid Nigeria has called for the immediate rescue of 25 schoolchildren and 7 teachers still held captive in Oyo State nearly two weeks after a deadly attack.
The children were abducted on May 15, 2026, when gunmen raided Ahoro-Esinele and Yawota communities in Oriire Local Government Area. In a statement released Wednesday, ActionAid Nigeria’s Country Director, Andrew Mamedu, said the group was “seized with profound grief, outrage, and alarm” over the ongoing captivity.
“Twenty-five children wait in a forest, kept from their families, their schools, and their hopes,” Mamedu said. “This is more than just a failure to keep them safe; it is a deep moral problem.”
While acknowledging ongoing efforts by security agencies, ActionAid said assurances and promises are no longer enough for families desperate for their children’s return. The organisation urged the Federal Government to deploy all available intelligence, military, diplomatic, and political resources to secure the victims’ release.
The group also called on the Oyo State Government to intensify negotiations, engagement, and rescue operations, and to ensure families receive regular updates and support.
“Children’s Day should represent protection, dignity, and hope for every child,” the statement read. “It is shocking that children who went to school looking for an education—one of the most basic rights any child can have—instead faced gunfire and terror. School must be a safe place.”
ActionAid further urged the National Assembly and the Oyo State House of Assembly to hold emergency sessions on the worsening insecurity in vulnerable communities and to allocate resources to strengthen school and community security. It asked security agencies to use their full operational capacity to free all 32 captives.
“Nigeria cannot celebrate its children with banners and speeches while many of them are held captive in a forest,” Mamedu said. “Truly celebrating our children means keeping them safe, ensuring their right to go to school, and letting them be free.”
The organisation reaffirmed its solidarity with the affected families and called on civil society, faith leaders, the media, and Nigerians to keep demanding the safe return of the abducted children.
“Children of Nigeria deserve to be celebrated, not mourned. They deserve classrooms, not captivity. They deserve a future, and it is the responsibility of the Nigerian state to guarantee it. Bring them home. Now,” the statement concluded.