Former vice president and 2027 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Atiku Abubakar, has decried the normalisation of killings and abductions under President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Atiku, in a statement on Wednesday issued by his aide Phrank Shaibu, blasted Mr Tinubu over poor handling of insecurity after terrorists abducted the principal of Government Secondary School and four students sitting the National Examinations Council examination in Odo-Ekina, Kogi, on Tuesday

“An examination hall should be a sanctuary of hope, not a crime scene. A school principal should be preparing students for the future, not negotiating with kidnappers. A NECO official should be supervising examinations, not struggling for survival in the hands of bandits. Yet this has become the grim reality under a government that has normalised insecurity,” the ADC chieftain said.

Mr Abubakar, who described the incident as “disgraceful”, further accused Mr Tinubu of disregarding safety in schools.

“First, they price poor children out of classrooms. Then they fail to protect those who remain in school. This is a double assault on the future of Nigeria. One is economic exclusion; the other is violent intimidation. Together, they amount to a systematic destruction of the dreams of an entire generation,” the politician added.

Mr Abubakar alleged emboldening of bandits under Mr Tinubu, saying criminals had continued to watch a government that showed greater urgency for political campaigns than for protecting schools.

He noted, “They have seen a government that mobilises enormous state resources when politics is involved but struggles to provide effective security around educational institutions. Every successful kidnapping convinces another criminal gang that Nigerian schoolchildren are easy targets.”

The ADC chieftain demanded immediate and unconditional rescue of every abducted victim, urging a comprehensive review of security arrangements for all schools and examination centres across the federation. 

“The children of Nigeria deserve books instead of bullets, classrooms instead of captivity, examinations instead of evacuation, and hope instead of horror. That is the minimum any responsible government owes its people,” he stated.