Atiku Slams Tinubu Over Kogi School Abduction

Former vice president and presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s administration over the abduction of a school principal, a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc official and students during an examination in Kogi State, saying the incident reflects a failure of governance and misplaced national priorities.

In a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku described the attack on Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State as evidence that the federal government had failed in its constitutional responsibility to protect citizens, particularly schoolchildren.

The former vice president said it was “tragic and disgraceful” that students could no longer sit for public examinations without the threat of armed attacks.

“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,” he said.

Atiku argued that the Kogi incident was part of a growing trend of attacks on educational institutions, which he attributed to worsening insecurity and what he described as the government’s neglect of the education sector.

According to him, schools have become attractive targets because criminals no longer fear the Nigerian state.

He also accused the Tinubu administration of undermining access to education through increased examination fees and inadequate investment in public 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,” Atiku stated.

The ADC presidential candidate further linked the country’s security challenges to what he described as poor budgetary priorities, alleging that public funds were being diverted to questionable projects instead of strengthening education and security.

He criticised what he called the politicisation of the national budget, saying it had contributed to underfunded schools and weak security infrastructure.

“A national budget is not a political souvenir or a personal wish list; it is a solemn statement of priorities that aligns public expenditure with the needs of the people. But when the budget is treated like the personal ledger of a Bourdillon local champion and littered with questionable insertions in favour of Adeniyi and his gang, phantom priorities like the N6.4 billion budgeted for ‘Aso Rock Supporters Club’ for the 2026 World Cup and expenditures divorced from national realities, the inevitable result is underfunded and poorly secured schools, failing public institutions and the maladministration that has become the defining trademark of the Tinubu administration,” he said.

According to Atiku, every successful attack on a school further emboldens criminal groups, warning that the government’s response has remained largely reactive rather than preventive.

“The bandits have become emboldened because they have watched a government that shows greater urgency for political campaigns than for protecting schools.

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,” he added.

The former vice president said the latest abduction should serve as a wake-up call for those responsible for the country’s security architecture.

“The collapse of school security is not merely a security failure; it is a collapse of governance itself. A country where children cannot safely write examinations is a country steadily surrendering its future to fear,” he said.

Atiku called on the federal government to ensure the immediate and unconditional rescue of all those abducted during the attack.

He also demanded a comprehensive review of security arrangements in schools and examination centres across the country, urging the government to move beyond issuing statements after attacks and instead implement practical security measures.

“History will not remember how many press releases this government issued after each abduction. History will remember whether it protected Nigeria’s children or abandoned them. No nation has ever developed by forcing its children to choose between education and survival,” he said.

He concluded that the government’s handling of education and security had created conditions that allowed criminal groups to increasingly target schools.

“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,” Atiku said.

Over the past few years, several states, including Kaduna, Niger, Zamfara and Katsina, have experienced mass abductions of students and school personnel. The recurring attacks forced the temporary closure of schools in some affected communities and heightened concerns over the safety and security of learning environments across the country.

The latest incident also comes amid increasing public debate over the rising cost of national examination fees and wider concerns about access to quality education. Education stakeholders have continued to urge the government to invest more in school infrastructure, strengthen security around educational institutions and ensure better protection for students, teachers and other school personnel.