OYO SCHOOLS ABDUCTION: CDWR REJECTS BACKDOOR PLAN TO SUSPEND ONGOING TEACHERS’ STRIKE
DEMANDS DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS OF OYO TEACHERS TO REVIEW ACTION
Parents Are Urged to Initiate or Support Solidarity Actions for Safe Release of Abducted Teachers and Students
The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) stands in full solidarity with the public school teachers in Oyo State who have embarked on an indefinite strike following the abduction of students and teachers in Orire Local Government Area. We share the grief and anguish of the entire education community over the reported killing of one teacher and one student, while others remain in captivity.
While commending the courage of teachers for taking industrial action to demand the safe return of their colleagues and students, the CDWR calls on the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Oyo State Wing, to immediately convene a congress or mass meeting of all teachers across the state to democratically review the ongoing indefinite strike. Such a congress, involving the full participation of rank-and-file teachers, will provide an important platform to assess the progress, impact, challenges, and shortcomings of the strike. This democratic process is necessary to strengthen the struggle and ensure that the action remains focused on its primary objective: securing the safe release of all abducted teachers and students.
At the proposed congress, the CDWR urges teachers to reject any attempt by the Oyo State Government and other so-called stakeholders to reopen schools through the backdoor under the guise of an emotional appeal, especially while abducted teachers and students remain in captivity and without clear, concrete commitments from both the state and federal governments towards securing their release.
Suspending the strike at this critical moment would amount to abandoning colleagues and students to their fate. Instead, teachers should consider transforming the indefinite strike into a structured weekly 24-hour strike action and mass protest, supported by coordinated solidarity activities involving teachers across public and private schools in all local government areas of the state, rather than restricting activities to the state capital alone.
In addition, we reiterate our call on the national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) to declare a 48-general strike and nationwide protest over the abduction of teachers, students and other people across the country and the worsening insecurity in general. This well help strengthen the struggle and sacrifice of Oyo State teachers and students by increasing the pressure on both the federal and state governments to take seriously the safe rescue of teachers, students and others in captivity.
We insist that if there is any need to suspend the ongoing strike by the NUT Oyo state, such a decision must emerge from a democratic discussion and resolution of the rank-and-file teachers, not from directives imposed by union leadership or so-called stakeholders.
Again, the CDWR rejects a false narrative that the indefinite strike has achieved nothing. Without the pressure created by the strike, it is unlikely that the state and federal governments would have considered it necessary to visit the affected communities or make public commitments towards securing the release of the abducted teachers and students. Although these steps remain far below what is required, however, they demonstrate that collective action has the potential to compel government authorities to respond more seriously.
In any case, the action has put in practice a maxim at the foundation of the labour movement that an injury to one is an injury to all. For the abducted teachers, knowing that they have not been abandoned would serve as a balm to the excruciatingly mental and physical pain they suffer daily.
Therefore, for the ongoing struggle to achieve greater success, it must be broadened to include private schools alongside public schools and combined with sustained weekly solidarity actions involving teachers, parents, and concerned people across Oyo State and beyond. An indefinite strike without regular opportunities for evaluation, mobilisation, and renewal can become demoralising and weaken the determination of workers. This is why the CDWR has consistently advocated for clearly defined strike actions, such as 24-hour or 48-hour strikes, which allow for broader participation, democratic assessment, and possible escalation where necessary.
The CDWR appeals for understanding and calm among parents and guardians of public school students whose children have remained at home while students in many private schools continue to attend classes. This situation is understandably painful and frustrating. However, parents should not view it as a reason for division or conflict with teachers. Instead, parents should organise themselves through active Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs), community platforms, and other collective structures to support teachers and demand urgent government action for the safe release of the abducted students and teachers.
The safety of children and education workers is a collective responsibility. Only united pressure from teachers, parents, students, and the wider working population can compel government authorities to take decisive action.
The CDWR insists that schools must be proven safe before any reopening is considered. It would be a serious mistake to rush teachers and students back into unsafe learning environments without implementing concrete security measures to prevent a recurrence of such attacks. The lives of our children and teachers must not be treated as expendable. The government has a responsibility to guarantee a secure learning environment where students and teachers can pursue education without fear.
We therefore call on teachers, parents, students, and the entire working people of Oyo State to support this approach and urge the Oyo State leadership of the NUT to convene a democratic congress of its members. Failure to adopt this collective and democratic approach risks allowing the issue to be forgotten, as happened in previous cases such as the prolonged captivity of the Chibok schoolgirls, while creating conditions for further attacks on schools without meaningful accountability. Forcing the government to ensure safety of our schools and the protection of our children requires urgent and sustained action from the working people and their mass organisations.
Abiodun Bamigboye (Abbey Trotsky)
State Coordinator
E-mail: [email protected]