By Feyisola Adeyeha
It was supposed to be a day of colour, songs, and match-past parades. On May 27, 2026, Nigeria marks Children’s Day with ceremonies in Abuja, Lagos, and state capitals across the country. But in the rural communities of Ahoro-Esinele and Oke-Ogun in Oyo State, the classrooms are quiet. Thirty-seven children and four teachers taken from two primary schools on May 15 have not come home.
The contrast is stark. In stadiums across the country, children dressed in white and green will recite poems about hope and a brighter future. In a forest somewhere along the Oyo-Ogun border, other children are marking Children’s Day in captivity, likely without food, sleep, or any idea if today means anything at all.
Gunmen on motorcycles stormed Baptist Nursery and Primary School in Yawota and Community High School in Ahoro-Esinele (Oriire Local Government Area, Ogbomoso axis), Oyo State, in the early hours of Friday, May 15, 2026. They fired gunshots into the air to create panic, then abducted approximately 37 pupils and 7 teachers before fleeing into the bush. One teacher was killed during the attack. The victims, including children as young as 9-12 years old, were bundled into vehicles and taken away.
For the families left behind, the waiting is unbearable. Parents have gathered at the schools and local government secretariats since last week, sleeping in shifts and asking the same question over and over. “They ask me every hour if I’ve heard from my daughter,” said Mrs. Aderonke, whose 9-year-old was taken from Igangan. “I tell her yes, because what else do I say? But I haven’t. None of us have.”
The scene is familiar and exhausting. Nigeria has recorded over 1,400 schoolchildren abducted since 2014, from Chibok in 2014 to Kankara in 2020, Jangebe in 2021, and now Oyo in 2026. Each incident follows the same pattern: shock, outrage, negotiation, and a slow fade from the headlines while families keep waiting.
Children’s Day celebrations in Oyo State were scaled back this year. The governor ordered a moment of silence at the state parade in Ibadan and directed schools to hold prayer sessions instead of march-past events. In Abuja, the President’s office reiterated that the safe return of every child is a national priority. Civil society groups staged candlelight vigils in Lagos and Abuja on May 26, calling for faster action and better protection for schools in rural areas. But the public mood is weary. “We’ve done this before,” said a parent. “We shout, we cry, and then we wait. The children pay the price.”
The federal government has deployed additional troops to the affected areas and the Nigerian Air Force is conducting aerial surveillance along suspected escape routes toward the Benin Republic border. Oyo State has activated its Emergency Response Team and says it is working with the Department of State Services and local vigilante groups familiar with the terrain. The Ministry of Education has ordered the temporary closure of 14 schools in high-risk local government areas pending security assessment.
Security analysts say the attacks persist because schools in remote areas often have little or no protection, and response times from the nearest police station can exceed an hour. “The model is simple and it works for the kidnappers,” said Dr. Remi Ajibola, a security researcher at the University of Ibadan. “Low risk, high payout, and poor deterrence. Until you change that equation, you’ll keep seeing attacks on soft targets like schools.”
Children’s Day was created to celebrate children’s rights and push for their protection. This year, that message is colliding with a reality where the most vulnerable children can be taken from a classroom in broad daylight. For the children in captivity, today is just another day of uncertainty. For their families, it’s a day of waiting with no guarantee. For the government, it’s another test of whether policy can move faster than the gunmen.
If the children are released in the coming days, the celebrations will resume with relief. If not, Nigeria will mark Children’s Day with a silence that no parade can fill.
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