IBADAN, Nigeria – Public schools across 11 local government areas suspended operations on June 1, 2026, as teachers complied with a Nigeria Union of Teachers directive to protest the unresolved abductions of students and educators in Oyo State and Borno State.
Okay News reports that the National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, Audu Titus Amba, announced a nationwide solidarity demonstration scheduled for June 2, 2026, to demand the immediate rescue of the captives. “I am telling you that today, all teachers nationwide will also go on a solidarity protest. Government should put more measures in place for schools to be safe,” Amba said.
The industrial action in Oyo State follows the kidnapping of 47 students and teachers from public and private institutions in the Ahoro Esiele Community within the Oriire Local Government Area, who have remained in captivity for 18 days. Schools locked their gates and turned away arriving students, granting access solely to senior secondary students sitting for terminal examinations.
In neighbouring Ogun State, citizens gathered at the Panseke skating ground in Abeokuta to demand an end to the kidnappings. Protesters requested that security agencies deploy additional resources to secure educational institutions and rescue the abducted individuals.
Residents of Borno State criticized the Federal Government of Nigeria‘s response to the May 16, 2026, abduction of 42 students from the Mussa community in the Askira Uba Local Government Area. The Chairman of the Network of Civil Society Organisations in the state, Abubakar Suleiman, noted that authorities deployed a high-level delegation and a helicopter to Oyo State but sent no federal delegation to Borno State.
The President of the Borno South Youths Alliance Forum, Samaila Kaigama, stated that the regional government’s only visible response to the Askira Uba kidnappings was the presentation of 10 million Naira (7,294 USD) to traditional rulers. Kaigama noted that authorities subsequently deployed battalions of military personnel to a local protest ground to prevent demonstrations.
