Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, led hundreds of protesters through the streets of Abuja on Thursday, 4 June 2026, demanding the immediate and unconditional release of schoolchildren and teachers abducted from three schools in Oyo State and one school in Borno State on 15 May 2026. The demonstration, which began at Eagle Square and moved through Shehu Shagari Way, Adetokunbo Ademola Crescent and Aminu Kano Way, was met with an overwhelming security response. Armed police, soldiers, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) sealed off all access roads to the Presidential Villa and the Three Arms Zone, turning back all but individuals with official State House identification tags.
The protest was triggered by the abduction of approximately 39 students and seven teachers from Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School in the Esiele and Yawota communities of Oriire Local Government Area, Oyo State. On the same day, 42 pupils were abducted from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira‑Uba Local Government Area, Borno State. The victims, including a two‑year‑old toddler, have now spent three weeks in captivity. A mathematics teacher, Mr Michael Oyedokun, was beheaded in captivity, while the principal of Community High School, Mrs Rachael Alamu, has appeared in a video from captivity begging the government to negotiate for their release.
Sowore had issued a Wednesday ultimatum, declaring that he would lead a march to the Presidential Villa if the abducted schoolchildren were not freed. In the early hours of Thursday, security forces moved to prevent the protest from reaching its target. As early as 8:00 a.m., all vehicle entry points to the Presidential Villa were under heavy screening, with anti‑riot police in full riot gear forming a tight cordon around the main gates. Motorists entering from the Asokoro axis and the Federal Secretariat axis were subjected to rigorous checks, causing significant traffic disruption across the capital. State House staff were required to present valid identification, while all others attempting to approach the premises were turned back.
The protesters, however, were not deterred. Carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Release our children and teachers unconditionally”, “Teachers deserve security, not fear”, “End the reign of fear in our schools”, “Tinubu, rescue the children”, and “School should be a sanctuary, not a crime scene”, they marched through the city centre before being halted by the security barricades. Speaking to the crowd, Sowore issued a direct challenge to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. “You cannot claim to be President of Nigeria and then refuse to do the job of the Commander‑in‑Chief of the Armed Forces. We are not here to beg anybody,” he said. “We are just asking people who claim they are elected to protect Nigerians to do their work.”
Sowore also took aim at the massive security deployment that had been mobilised to contain the protest. “It would have been great if the number of policemen preventing this march could instead protect our schools,” he said. Addressing the security personnel directly, he added: “Your children are also in schools. If the school becomes a ground for kidnapping, one day your children too will be kidnapped.” At one point, Sowore and other protesters were stopped by military personnel at the entrance of the Presidential Villa. He declared: “Aso Rock is Nigerian. When the Nigerian people are ready, they will take over the Presidential Villa and no military can stop them.”
The protest is the second time in less than a week that civil society groups have taken to the streets of Abuja over the abductions. On 2 June, members of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and civil society organisations had held a solidarity rally demanding government action. The NUT has declared an indefinite strike in Oyo State, and teachers have held nationwide protests. Despite President Tinubu’s approval of the recruitment of 1,000 forest guards for Oyo State and the deployment of a specialised rescue unit, no rescue breakthrough has been announced. The federal government has not responded directly to Sowore’s demands or to the protest.
As the sun set over Abuja on Thursday, the protesters dispersed, but Sowore made it clear that the movement would not end. “Aso Rock is Nigerian House, and when the Nigerian people are ready, they will take over,” he said. The mothers who had brought their children to the barricades returned home without the news they had hoped for. The 46 victims of the Oriire abduction remain in captivity, and the teachers who have downed their chalk await a rescue that has not yet come.
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