27 DAYS OF CAPTIVITY: THE ABDUCTED SCHOOL CHILDREN, THEIR CHILDREN MUST NOT DIE IN DETENTION. RESCUE THEM NOW OR FACE RENEWED MASS PROTESTS.

TAKE IT BACK MOVEMENT
PRESS STATEMENT

27 DAYS OF CAPTIVITY: THE ABDUCTED SCHOOL CHILDREN, THEIR CHILDREN MUST NOT DIE IN DETENTION. RESCUE THEM NOW OR FACE RENEWED MASS PROTESTS.

The Take It Back Movement expresses deep outrage and grave concern over the continued abduction of schoolchildren and their teachers from Yawota and Ahoro-Esinle communities in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Twenty-seven days after these innocent children and their teachers were kidnapped from their schools, they remain in captivity while their families endure unbearable pain, fear and uncertainty. Every additional day they spend in the hands of their abductors is a damning indictment of the failure of the Nigerian state to guarantee the security of lives and property.

In a recent publication, Governor Seyi Makinde informed the public that the whereabout of the victims are known, he claimed that they are being held within the Old Oyo National Park axis. This raises an important questions– why are the children and teachers not rescued yet?

The primary duty of any government is the protection of lives. No government can claim success while schoolchildren are abducted from their classrooms and held captive for nearly a month without rescue. The people of Oyo State deserve results, not reassurances.

The Take It Back Movement wishes to make it clear that the continued captivity of these children is unacceptable. If urgent and visible progress is not made towards their rescue, we shall commence consultations with all state Chapters of the movement, students, labour activists, community groups and concerned citizens across Oyo State and beyond towards coordinated mass actions to demand immediate action.

We refuse to normalise a society where children are abducted from schools while public officials offer endless explanations. We refuse to accept a Nigeria where parents must live in daily agony, uncertain whether they will ever see their children again.

The government must act now. The abducted children and their teachers must be rescued immediately and reunited with their families.
Enough is enough.

Signed:
Juwon Sanyaolu
National Coordinator
Take It Back Movement