Rights group, Amnesty International says President Bola Tinubu-led administration has failed to address Nigeria’s “shocking” spate of abductions targeting school children, rural communities and internally displaced persons (IDPs) across the country.
In a statement on Sunday, Amnesty International said at least 1,100 people have been abducted from January to April 2026.
“Last week, gunmen abducted 39 students and seven teachers in an attack targeting several schools in Ahoro Esinele community in Oriire district Oyo state,” the statement reads.
“One of the teachers Michael Oyedokun was reportedly beheaded.
“Also last week, 42 students and pupils were abducted by Boko Haram in an attack on Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State.”
The organisation added that survivors of such abductions narrated about being subjected to starvation and acts of torture, including beatings, flogging, rape and other sexual violence.
It noted that over a decade is enough time for the Nigerian authorities to find a solution “to this horrifying problem, but so far, the reality shows, the government has neither the will nor the commitment to end rampant abductions and attacks on children and their schools”.
Amnesty International said authorities must live up to their national and international obligations to ensure rights to education, to the highest attainable standard of health, to protection from physical or mental violence, and to protection from torture and other ill-treatment.
