Gunmen abducted schoolchildren and teachers in Oyo State, and a video shows one teacher beheaded by his captors. The abduction joins a relentless cycle of kidnappings across Nigeria that has left Nigerians living in fear, unable to sleep without watching their backs.
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde confirmed the government is working to rescue the hostages. He also said the government stands ready to listen to the abductors and hear their demands. This response captures what governance has become in Nigeria: watching and listening while remaining utterly powerless.
The government's willingness to negotiate with terrorists exposes a grim truth. An administration that refuses to hear its own citizens now bends an ear to killers because it has exhausted all other options. What appears as concern for hostages masks state cowardice and rank incompetence. An effective government would respond with decisive action and crushing consequences for attackers. Nigeria's government offers neither.
The pattern repeats itself endlessly across the country. Days before the Oyo abduction, terrorists descended on Askira-Uba Local Government in Borno State and took more than fifty schoolchildren. No emergency has been declared anywhere. No security sweeps have materialized. Teachers are beheaded on video, yet the machinery of state grinds forward unmoved.
Education itself has become a danger zone. Children who manage to attend school despite poverty now face ruthless kidnappers. Meanwhile, millions of Nigerian children remain out of school entirely. The government expends its energy on political scheming for 2025, not on the existential security crisis unfolding in real time.
Nigeria has transformed into a place where no location feels safe. Markets, highways, schools, and homes all present vulnerability. The state's failure to protect its people represents the deepest indictment possible of government. By allowing teachers to be murdered and children stolen while it negotiates with terrorists, Nigeria has handed sharp knives to those who would decapitate its future.
No state of emergency has been declared. No comprehensive security overhaul has begun. The government will continue to listen and watch, which is all it seems capable of doing.
