Former Vice-President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has accused the federal government of neglecting education and failing to protect Nigerian schoolchildren following the abduction of students and officials during the ongoing National Examination Council (NECO) examinations in Kogi State.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the attack on Government Secondary School (GSS) Olowa in Dekina Local Government Area was evidence that the government had abandoned its primary responsibility of safeguarding lives and the nation’s future.
Gunmen invaded the school on Tuesday, abducting the principal, a NECO ad hoc official and several students while examinations were in progress.
Reacting to the incident, Atiku described the attack as “tragic and disgraceful”, saying it highlighted how educational institutions had become easy targets because criminals no longer feared the Nigerian state.
“An examination hall should be a sanctuary of hope, not a crime scene. A school principal should be preparing students for the future, not negotiating with kidnappers,” he said.
He added that a NECO official should be supervising examinations rather than struggling to survive in the hands of bandits, arguing that such incidents had become the “grim reality” under the current administration.
The ADC presidential candidate also linked the attack to what he described as the government’s poor handling of the education sector, accusing it of making education less affordable through higher WAEC and NECO examination fees while neglecting public schools and failing to secure learning environments.
According to Atiku, the combination of rising education costs and worsening insecurity amounts to a “double assault” on Nigeria’s future.
He further argued that repeated attacks on schools had emboldened criminal groups because government responses had remained largely reactive.
“They have seen a government that mobilises enormous state resources when politics is involved but struggles to provide effective security around educational institutions. Every successful kidnapping convinces another criminal gang that Nigerian schoolchildren are easy targets,” he said.
Atiku called for the immediate and unconditional rescue of all those abducted and urged the federal government to strengthen security around schools and examination centres across the country.
He also appealed for concrete security reforms rather than routine official statements, insisting that Nigerian children deserve safe classrooms and uninterrupted access to education.
