- The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and various civil society organizations have strongly condemned President Bola Tinubu and Governor Seyi Makinde over the prolonged captivity of more than 40 school children and teachers.
- The victims were abducted 26 days ago during coordinated, mid-morning terrorist raids on three separate schools within the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
- Security stakeholders criticized the government for politicizing the crisis and failing to utilize local security networks, including the OPC and Sunday Igboho’s defensive forces, to flush out bandits from regional forests.
The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), under the leadership of the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, alongside prominent civil society organizations, on Thursday, June 11, 2026, launched a blistering attack on President Bola Tinubu and Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the groups expressed profound anger over the government’s glaring inability to secure the release of over 40 schoolchildren and their teachers who have been held in captivity for nearly a month.
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The sharp criticisms were voiced during a security town hall meeting organized by News Central in Ibadan, themed “Oyo at a Crossroads: Security, Safety and the Future.”
Speaking on behalf of Gani Adams, the OPC National Director of Communications, Rauf Abiola, declared that both the federal and state governments had failed in their primary constitutional duties.
He reminded political leaders that Section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution places the absolute responsibility of protecting citizens’ lives and property on the government.
Abiola revealed that despite the OPC having functional security coordinators across all 33 local government areas in Oyo State who are ready to deploy into the forests, Governor Makinde has continuously ignored offers of local operational assistance.
The mass abduction occurred on Friday, May 15, 2026, when heavily armed bandits launched coordinated strikes at about 9:30 a.m. on three educational institutions in the Oriire Local Government Area.
The targeted schools included Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota, Community Grammar School, and L.A. Primary School in Esiele.
Security experts at the town hall argued that the continuous delay has turned kidnapping into a booming economic enterprise in the region.
Femi Adeyeye of the Take It Back Movement stated that the wave of terrorism is the direct result of historical policy failures, where neglected uneducated youths have become willing tools for criminal cartels.
Further fueling the anger at the summit, the President of the National Association of Seadogs in Oyo State, Bola Osodipo, lambasted the government for blocking alternative security measures.
He questioned why federal authorities actively stopped prominent Yoruba nation activist Sunday Igboho from leading local hunters into the forests to smoke out the kidnappers.
Osodipo warned that the current centralized military approach to kidnapping has proven completely ineffective, urging the South-West governors to set aside political calculations and empower local volunteer forces to guarantee the safety of rural schools.
