Tinubu Orders Rescue Operations After Mass School Abductions, Atiku Demands Resignation

Mass abductions of schoolchildren and teachers across Nigeria have triggered a fierce political confrontation between Bola Ahmed Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over the government's security record. On May 15, gunmen abducted over 40 victims from three schools in Oyo State's Orire Local Government Area — including the beheading of one teacher — and at least 42 people from schools in Borno's Askira-Uba Local Government Area. Separate attacks in Katsina State killed at least 10 people, including a pregnant woman.

Atiku Abubakar responded on May 19 with scathing criticism, accusing Tinubu of governing through "obituary statements" and recycled condemnations. He alleged the government was attempting to censor images of the atrocities to protect political optics and declared that the unchecked attacks proved state authority had collapsed. Atiku demanded an immediate overhaul of the national security architecture.

On May 28, marking Children's Day and Eid-el-Kabir, President Tinubu directed security agencies to intensify intelligence-led rescue operations for captives in Oyo and Borno. He ordered the Federal Ministry of Education to deepen the Safe Schools framework through updated vulnerability mapping, rapid-response links, and community-based early warning systems. Tinubu also pledged medical care, counseling, and reintegration support for survivors, telling abducted children and their families they were "not forgotten" and "not abandoned."

Atiku dismissed these measures as inadequate, arguing the administration's failure to prevent the abductions made a mockery of the Safe Schools initiative. He called for Tinubu's resignation, the creation of special courts to expedite terrorism trials, and the application of the death penalty for terrorism offenses.