Former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has criticised the Federal Government’s handling of the recent wave of school kidnappings, urging authorities to move beyond issuing statements and take “visible, coordinated, decisive, and proactive action” to stop the attacks.
Amaechi made the remarks in a late-night post on X, referencing last week’s assault on St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, where gunmen abducted students and staff.
The incident occurred just days after terrorists invaded Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, kidnapping 25 students and killing Vice-Principal Hassan Makuku.
Expressing worry over the growing attacks on schools, Amaechi accused top security officials of being disconnected from Nigeria’s security realities, noting that several were outside the country when the latest abductions occurred. He warned that repeated kidnappings would worsen Nigeria’s already staggering number of out-of-school children, which UNICEF estimates at 18 million.
“Within hours of the world marking World Children’s Day… terrorists stormed St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Niger State,” he wrote, calling for the safe return of the abducted victims and healing for affected families.
He said the Kebbi and Niger attacks reflect “a systemic pattern of violence that is targeting schools, places of worship, farms, and highways,” stressing that Nigerians are tired of after-the-fact government reactions. “It is not enough to issue statements after the fact. Nigerians want to see visible, coordinated, decisive, and proactive action,” he added.
Amaechi argued that the unchecked assaults pose long-term risks to Nigeria’s development. “When children are taken from classrooms, schooling becomes a risk, not a right… These incidents damage not only today’s education, but tomorrow’s workforce, tomorrow’s economy, and tomorrow’s peace,” he said.
He also accused the Tinubu administration of abandoning the Safe Schools Programme, created to secure learning environments. According to him, although N16 billion was released for the initiative in 2022, “under the current administration, this initiative has been left largely unfunded and dormant.”
The former minister called on President Bola Tinubu to demonstrate leadership and activate constitutional structures such as the National Council of State, which he said exists “for times like this.”
“If it is anyone’s turn, then it is also the turn of Nigerian children to be protected as a matter of urgency,” Amaechi said, adding that leadership “cannot be separated from the duty to protect.”
He maintained that security interventions must go beyond force: “Nigeria cannot defeat terror with guns alone. If people cannot make a legitimate income, they will create illegitimate ones… The real question is whether leadership is ready to use [our capacity] with the urgency, discipline and courage this moment demands.”
