Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Christian Association of Nigeria, Borno State chapter, has issued an urgent and emotional appeal to the Federal Government, the Borno State Government, and security agencies to secure the release of 78 schoolchildren and other victims who have spent more than 100 days in the captivity of Boko Haram terrorists. The call was made on Sunday, September 27, 2026, by the state CAN Chairman, Most Reverend John Bakeni, during a prayer session organised in Maiduguri to mark the association’s 50th anniversary. Bakeni described the prolonged captivity as a source of unimaginable pain for the families of the victims, saying the association’s golden jubilee had become a sober celebration rather than a joyous one.
“CAN is 50. There are lots of events and activities that have been lined up. Sadly, at the state level, our celebration is a sober one,” Bakeni said. “How do you celebrate when your children are in captivity, when your brothers and sisters are in captivity, when so many communities are being attacked and challenged by insecurity, and when economic hardship is biting hard?” He said the association had been using advocacy to keep the plight of the victims before the authorities, adding that CAN had reached out to leaders at both the national and state levels to do whatever they could to secure the release of those held captive. “These kids have spent over 100 days in captivity. You can imagine what their parents are going through—the pain, agony, trauma,” he said. “We have pleaded with the leaders to do whatever it takes. The best way to feel this is to put yourself in the shoes of any of these parents. If your children are in captivity, what will you do? Therefore, while we pray for them, we also encourage them.”
The 78 children were abducted in two separate attacks on schools in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State. On May 16, 2026, suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School, abducting 42 students and pupils, including a toddler. Forty-four days later, on June 29, the same group invaded Government Day Secondary School in Lassa, also in Askira-Uba, and abducted 36 students and one teacher. The two incidents brought the total number of missing children to 78. The abductions occurred on the same day that gunmen abducted students and teachers from a school in Oyo State, a coincidence that briefly drew national attention to the spate of school kidnappings before the story faded from the headlines.
The Borno State Government ordered the immediate closure of the two affected schools and relocated the remaining students to safer facilities in Uba town. Parents of the abducted children staged protests in Askira-Uba and later in Maiduguri, demanding that the government intensify efforts to rescue their children. In August 2026, the Hawul/Askira-Uba Elders Forum held a media conference in Abuja to mark 100 days since the Mussa abduction, with the forum’s spokesperson, Malla Gadzama, describing the families’ ordeal as one of “unimaginable pain”. The elders appealed directly to President Bola Tinubu and Governor Babagana Umara Zulum to bring the children home. UNICEF also joined the calls, with its Nigeria Deputy Representative, Dr Rownak Khan, urging the Federal and Borno State Governments to expedite action to secure the children’s release. Khan said schools should be safe places where children can learn and grow, and stressed that it was the ultimate responsibility of the Nigerian government to ensure the children were not abducted in the first place and to put all efforts into releasing those in captivity.
Governor Zulum met with the parents in Maiduguri in August and assured them that the Federal Government and the Borno State Government were working closely to secure the children’s release. He said President Tinubu had directed security agencies to ensure the rescue of the children and believed they were working to achieve that objective. Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, representing Southern Borno, also visited the Theatre Command of Operation HADIN KAI to appeal to the military to intensify efforts towards the rescue of the victims. He said his visit was to appreciate the military and to draw renewed attention to the plight of families whose loved ones remained in captivity.
Despite these assurances, more than 100 days after the first abduction and nearly three months after the second, the children remain missing. The Borno State Government has said it received a proof-of-life video showing some of the students abducted from Lassa, but the identities of those in the footage have not been publicly verified. The government has not provided a timeline for their release, and the military has not disclosed the specifics of its rescue operations. The silence and apparent inaction have drawn sharp criticism from community leaders, human rights organisations, and the media. The Leadership newspaper, in an editorial, described the situation as “distressing”, warning that the continued detention of the children by their captors, together with the silence of the authorities, said a lot about the nation’s conscience. The editorial called for the suspension of all campaign activities ahead of the 2027 elections until the children are rescued, arguing that the Nigerian state has failed these children and their parents.
The abduction of the 78 schoolchildren is part of a broader pattern of insecurity that has devastated Borno State and the wider North-East for more than a decade. Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province have killed tens of thousands of people, displaced millions, and destroyed countless communities. Schools have been a frequent target, with the 2014 Chibok abduction of 276 schoolgirls remaining the most infamous example. More than a decade later, the kidnapping of schoolchildren has not stopped. The 2024 abduction of over 280 pupils in Kaduna and the 2025 abduction of schoolchildren in Sokoto were stark reminders that the threat persists. The 78 children in Borno are the latest victims of a crisis that has not been adequately addressed by successive governments.
As the 2027 general elections draw closer, political activities are intensifying across the country. The APC has unveiled its campaign council, and opposition parties are positioning themselves for the contest. Yet in Askira-Uba, families are still waiting for news of their children. The CAN chairman’s appeal is a reminder that for many Nigerians, the most urgent political issue is not who will occupy Aso Rock in 2027, but whether their loved ones will return home at all. “It is a responsibility that rests on their shoulders,” Bakeni said of the government and security agencies. “We urge them to do something to rescue the abducted persons because it is long overdue.” For the parents of the 78 children, every passing day is a day of agony. The question on their lips is the same one that has been asked for over 100 days: where are our children?
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