*Laments abduction of 340 students in one Week
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on President Bola Tinubu to either “seek urgent help or honourably resign” if his administration is unable to tackle the worsening insecurity that has engulfed the nation, following the abduction of 340 students and staff in separate attacks across Kebbi and Niger States within one week.
In what has become one of Nigeria’s most distressing security crises in recent years, gunmen invaded a school in Kebbi State last week and abducted 25 students, leaving traumatised parents and a frightened community in uncertainty.
Days later, tragedy struck again in Niger State when another school was overrun, resulting in the kidnapping of 315 students and staff in a single, coordinated assault that has drawn national and international condemnation.
These abductions are the latest in a deadly wave of killings, bandit raids, and kidnappings that have swept across the country, particularly in the North. Villages in Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna, Niger, and parts of the Middle Belt have endured renewed violence, with families displaced, farmlands destroyed, and dozens killed in a string of attacks that have occurred almost daily.
The escalating insecurity has left millions of Nigerians living in fear and uncertainty.
Reacting to the developments, the PDP, in a press conference on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong, accused the Tinubu administration of showing a “weak, slow, and insensitive” approach to a national tragedy that demands decisive and compassionate leadership.
The party said the Federal Government has consistently failed to respond with urgency whenever mass killings or kidnappings occur.
According to the PDP, President Tinubu’s decision to send only the Minister of State for Defence to Kebbi, rather than personally visiting affected families or addressing troops on the ground, underscores the administration’s lack of seriousness in tackling insecurity.
The party contrasted this with the large delegations deployed to recent international meetings, arguing that the government appears more concerned with optics than the welfare of its citizens.
The PDP also criticised reports that the Federal Government is considering the closure of schools in high-risk areas as a way to curb further kidnappings.
It warned that such a move would amount to “a complete surrender to terrorists,” whose long-standing aim is to shut down formal education in northern Nigeria.
“A closure of schools will certainly exacerbate the already challenging educational situation in Northern Nigeria, where, according to UNICEF, the majority of the 18.3 million out-of-school children (10.2 million at the primary level and 8.1 million at the secondary level) in Nigeria reside.
“This data not only paints a grim picture but also mirrors the exact situation in Nigeria,” the part stated.
Instead of adopting “quick-fix measures,” the PDP urged the Federal Government to immediately fund and implement the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools, a comprehensive framework designed to secure learning environments through community intelligence, proactive monitoring, and rapid response systems.
The party added that the recent attacks highlight not only the vulnerability of schools but also the broader collapse of security across the country. It said Nigerians now live in constant fear as killings, kidnappings, and raids have become daily occurrences under the APC administration.
“The Tinubu government must accept that it has failed to protect Nigerians,” the party said. “If it is unwilling, unable, or incapable of fulfilling its primary duty of securing lives and property, it must seek urgent help, locally or internationally or honourably resign.”
The PDP emphasised that the fate of the 340 abducted students and the safety of communities under siege should be the government’s top priority. It urged the administration to act swiftly, restore public confidence, and demonstrate genuine commitment to securing the nation.
