By Luke Onyekakeyah
The kidnapped innocent children as saints in hell are the current reality in Nigeria. The Oyo school attack last May 2026, where students were abducted from their school, a teacher was gruesomely beheaded, and soldiers along with Amotekun hit IEDs trying to rescue them is still raging. When kids are taken from classrooms or hostels, it forces that image of innocent minds, forced into a place no child should know exists, a dungeon, akin to hell on earth.
Boko Haram/ISWAP and bandit groups have used kids as pawns for years: Chibok 2014, Dapchi 2018: schoolgirls were taken to become wives, cooks, or suicide bombers. Kankara 2020, Bethel Baptist 2021: Mass abductions for ransom. Now Oyo 2026: same pattern moved south. Children become currency.
Why “saints in hell” fits the dirge. Kids, innocent as saints, are targeted precisely because they’re innocent. They haven’t chosen sides, politics, or religion yet. In Christian/Muslim communities, the death/abduction of a child is seen as an attack on purity itself. The forests of Sambisa, Rugu, Old Oyo Park are hellish. No light, no school, constant fear, hunger, abuse. Survivors describe it as hell. Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) called the Oyo beheading a “national disgrace” for that reason.
The undeclared war angle: When a country lets children to be kidnapped from school repeatedly for 12 years running without changing strategy, the kids pay the price for the adults’ failure. They become martyrs without choosing it. That’s the “sainthood” no one wants. It’s why the phrase is showing up in sermons, protest, art, and social media now. People are trying to name grief that the news cycle flattens into “students abducted”. Any family carrying that weight right now, it’s quite heavy.
What are child protection groups like UNICEF and Save the Children actually doing on the ground for rescued kids? What are communities in Borno and Zamfara, among others, doing to prevent school abductions? What is Government doing to prevent school abductions?
After Chibok 2014, Dapchi 2018, Kankara 2020, and now Oyo 2026, the Nigerian Government rolled out several programs to stop school abductions. The problem lies in implementation gaps meaning that schools are still soft targets. What is officially on ground as of 2026 include Safe Schools Initiative (SSI), launched in 2014 after Chibok, revamped 2022 reportedly with $20m donor funding plus ₦15bn federal budget. What it does include physical security: Perimeter fencing, gates, watchtowers for more than 1,000 schools in six “high-risk” states – Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Zamfara, Katsina, Niger. Oyo schools weren’t in the first phase.
Emergency response: “School-based rapid response teams” with direct line to DSS/Police command. Each school gets a panic alarm connected to local security. Community guards: Training for PTA and vigilante groups as first responders. Amotekun in SW is part of this model. However, only 25 per cent of Nigeria’s 62,000 public schools are covered. Rural schools like the one hit in Oyo often have no fence, let alone alarms.
There is the National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools approved 2019, updated 2023. The key parts include risk assessment: UBEC/State governments must audit every school yearly for abduction risk. If risk is high, school should relocate or get security.
Safe School Declaration: Nigeria signed the UN Safe Schools Declaration 2019. Means military should avoid using schools as barracks – that makes them targets. Student safety clubs: Teach kids “run, hide, tell” drills and how to use emergency numbers. The problem is that states implement unevenly. Budget release is slow. Many LGAs haven’t done audits.
Military and Police response: Operation Safe Haven and Operation Hadarin Daji: Troops deployed around schools in North-West and North-Central. In Borno, “Super Camps” protect clusters of schools. Intelligence-led patrols: After Oyo attack, NSCDC said it deployed “Safe School Response Teams” with drones and night patrols around boarding schools in SW. Air cover: NAF now does more drone surveillance over forest corridors like Old Oyo Park where bandits move south. Problem is that soldiers cannot guard Nigeria’s 62,000 schools 24/7. Bandits study patterns and attack when patrols leave.
There is also Community and Tech solutions involving school security databases: Federal Ministry of Education and UNICEF built a database of all schools with GPS coordinates so responders know where to go. Radio and SMS alerts. In Zamfara and Katsina, community radio warns schools when bandit movement is spotted. School consolidation: Policy pushes merging small rural schools into fewer, better-secured “mega schools”. But this is logistically unpopular because it means longer walks for kids.
Legal and Policy pressure: Kidnapping Act 2017: Death penalty for kidnapping that leads to death. Meant to deter, but prosecution is rare. The sentencing of four to death over the Owo church attack is laudable. Zamfara 2022 law bans ransom payment. Katsina bans sale of fuel and food in bandit areas. But these are hard to enforce.
Despite all these measures, why abductions still persist: Three big gaps have been identified, namely, “undeclared war” problem: No single command. NSCDC handles “Safe Schools”; Police handles crime; Army handles insurgency; Amotekun handles SW. Bandits exploit the gaps between them.
Next is funding: Fencing plus guards for all schools would cost some ₦200bn. Current budget covers only 1,000 schools.
Third is governance failure: Bandits take over forests because LGAs, police posts, and courts aren’t there. If the state doesn’t return after military “clears”, school stays exposed.
What experts say would actually help include one command per state: Merge NSCDC Safe School teams, Amotekun and Police under one security trust fund per state, like Lagos does.
Drones and rapid response: Mali’s model – Turkish drones hit IED and bandit camps before they reach schools. Nigeria should start buying them.
Day schools over boarding: 80 percent of abductions are from boarding schools/hostels at night. More day schools with buses will mean fewer night targets.
The Oyo beheading plus IEDs show the war is spreading south. Government is reacting, but still playing catch-up
The hard truth: Colombia took 8 years plus $10bn and 30,000 troops to reduce kidnapping by 90 percent. There’s no quick fix. But the kidnapping cycle CAN break when profit drops and territory is held with risk for kidnappers rises. The ball is in the court of Government. Kidnapping will end when Government wants.
Dr. Onyekakeyah, a former member of the Guardian Editorial Board, is a public affairs commentator and a Daily Query columnist.
