ORIRE ABDUCTION: THE RELEASE OF THE ABDUCTEES DEMONSTRATES THE POWER OF SUSTAINED PUBLIC AND WORKERS’ PRESSURE!

CDWR Demands the Safe Release of Other Abductees Across the Country.

The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR), Oyo State branch, rejoices with the abducted teachers and students from the Orire Local Government Area of state and their families and communities following their safe release after spending over 55 days in captivity. We commiserate with the families of two teachers killed in captivity, a teacher and commercial motorcyclist shot dead during the abduction and security personnel who lost their lives in the course of rescue operation.

We hold that the successful release of the abductees demonstrates the power of sustained public and workers’ pressure in compelling government and the security agencies to act with greater urgency and seriousness.

It will be recalled that right from the moment news of the May 15, 2026 abduction broke, parents, workers, trade unions, civil society organisations, students, community groups and other concerned Nigerians consistently demanded the immediate and safe rescue of the victims. This pressure intensified when teachers in both primary and secondary public schools across Oyo State embarked on an indefinite strike, which paralysed academic activities in public schools for over a month.

The nationwide protest organised in solidarity with the abducted teachers and students further heightened public attention and reinforced the demand for urgent government intervention. Even after the Oyo State leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) unilaterally suspended the strike, public agitation did not subside. Ordinary Nigerians continued to insist that the victims must not be forgotten until they regained their freedom.

This experience once again confirms that organised public pressure and democratic mass action remain indispensable instruments for ensuring that governments, at all levels, discharge their responsibility to protect lives and property. For this reason, we reject an attempt by government officials and their town criers to reduce the release of the abductees to an occasion for political grandstanding, self-congratulation or propaganda. Rather, it should serve as a moment of sober reflection over the monumental failure of the government and security agencies that led to the abduction in Oriire and others elsewhere in Nigeria in the first place. Moreso, that the government has not been able to secure the release hundreds of Nigerians still in captivity across the country, including the Borno students who were kidnapped the same date as the Oriire victims, means that there is no cause for a wild celebration.

Across Nigeria, school children, workers, farmers, travellers and other innocent citizens continue to languish in the hands of kidnappers, while their families endure unbearable psychological, emotional and economic hardship. Many have exhausted their life savings, sold valuable property or incurred huge debts in desperate attempts to secure the freedom of their loved ones through ransom payments. Government owes these victims and their families the same commitment, that ultimately secured the release of the Oriire abductees. Every Nigerian life is equally precious, and no victim should be abandoned simply because there is no a sustained public attention

The CDWR therefore calls on trade unions, civil society organisations, media and people of good conscience to mount a sustained pressure on the government, at all levels, to secure the safe release of all captives and also fulfil the obligation to protect lives and property. At the same time, we reiterate our call on the community people for setting up of non-sectarian defence committees which must be armed if necessary and run democratically, in communities, to defend themselves against criminal elements especially in the face of failure of the government.

Also importantly, while the CDWR calls on the government to protect lives and property and bring to justice criminal elements, we maintain that kidnapping and insecurity in general cannot be confronted through military operations or policing alone. Sustainable security requires deliberate efforts to end the worsening socio-economic crisis that has plunged millions of Nigerians into poverty, unemployment and hopelessness. Government must make substantial public investment in quality education, healthcare, decent employment, agriculture, rural development and social welfare while ensuring that the country’s enormous wealth is democratically utilised for the benefit of the overwhelming majority rather than a privileged few. Without addressing these underlying social and economic conditions, insecurity will continue to reproduce itself despite periodic security successes.

Unfortunately, on the basis of capitalism, it is not possible to have a government that would carry out the measures and tasks articulated above on a permanent basis. This is why we of the CDWR supports the call on trade unions and pro-masses organisations to build a mass movement that consistently fights against anti-poor policies, sustains pressure on the government over insecurity and at the same time struggles for political power on the basis of socialist policies and plans.

Bamigboye Abiodun (Abbey Trotsky)

State Coordinator

E-mail: [email protected]