ABUJA — Marking the exact third anniversary of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s inauguration, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has handed down a devastating assessment of the administration’s scorecard, declaring that the government has “failed woefully” in its primary constitutional duty of safeguarding Nigerian lives.
In an extraordinarily blunt statement released through his Media Office in Abuja on Thursday, May 28, 2026, Atiku argued that the administration’s milestone is written not in developmental achievements, but in the severe economic hardship of the citizens and the literal “tears of kidnapped children.“
A Tragic Contrast on Children’s Day
The timing of Atiku’s intervention coincides with Nigeria’s dual celebration of National Children’s Day and Eid-el-Kabir on May 27. However, for dozens of families in the states of Borno and Oyo, there were no celebrations.
The former Vice President drew national attention to the grim reality of nearly 100 students and educators who spent the holiday in the custody of heavily armed non-state actors following synchronized insurgent raids on May 15.
“President Tinubu has no moral or political latitude to stay in Aso Villa a day longer if tens of hundreds of abducted citizens languish in captivity across the country,” Atiku stated unequivocally. “What type of government will allow non-state actors to turn its national territory into killing fields and a haven for kidnapping and extortion? Official condemnations of terrorist abductions are no longer enough if they are not followed up with prompt, decisive rescue action.”
The May 15 Double Assault
The specific security failures outlined in the opposition leader’s report card paint a disturbing picture of expanding asymmetric warfare on two distinct geographical fronts:
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The Borno Raids: In Askira-Uba Local Government Area, terrorists targeted three schools simultaneously—Government Day Secondary School Mussa, Central Primary School, and a SUBEB Secondary School—kidnapping no fewer than 42 children.
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The Oyo Breaches: On the exact same day, in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, bandits invaded Community High School Ahoro-Esiele, a primary school in Esiele, and the Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School, carting away over 40 students and teachers.
The crisis took a horrific turn in captivity when a mathematics teacher captured during the Oyo raid, Mr. Michael Oyedokun, was brutally beheaded by his captors. Atiku emphasized that the sheer audacity of these cross-regional operations makes a complete mockery of the Federal Government’s widely publicized “Safe Schools Initiative.“
Capital Punishment and Special Courts
Moving past standard political criticism, the former Vice President demanded radical changes to Nigeria’s internal security and criminal justice framework. He warned that allowing mass abductions to drag on into weeks creates massive incentives for copycat criminal elements and strips the state of its deterrence capabilities.
To break this cycle of impunity, Atiku called for the immediate establishment of specialized, accelerated security tribunals. “We urgently need special courts to speed up the trial of terrorists and bandits in the country,” he argued. “In addition, the death penalty must be applied strictly to terrorism offenses to project absolute confidence that the state is capable of protecting its citizens at all times.“
