IBADAN — Teachers in major Nigerian cities protested on Tuesday against a series of kidnappings and attacks targeting schools by armed groups. The demonstrations followed the abduction of at least 46 pupils and staff from three schools in Oyo state on May 15.
Separately on May 15, at least 42 people, including schoolchildren as young as two years old, were abducted from schools in Borno state. The Nigerian army stated that the May 15 attack in Oyo state was carried out by jihadists. Mass abductions of schoolchildren were unusual for Oyo state, which is generally calmer than northern Nigeria.
The teachers' union in Oyo state began an indefinite strike on Monday. Protesters in Ibadan held a banner that read, "Kidnapping has no place in education." In Lagos, demonstrators marched to the state house of assembly to demand the release of abducted students. Protesters in Maiduguri said attacks on schools are worsening across Borno state, the epicenter of Nigeria's 17-year-old jihadist insurgency.
"Education is under siege," Hassan Taiwo of the Education Rights Campaign told AFP, denouncing an "epidemic of attacks on schools and abduction of school children and teachers that we have experienced over the years." "We want the government and security agencies to act swiftly and show the families that they have not been forgotten," teacher Kaumi Usman told AFP in Maiduguri. "We pray that our teachers and students are released," Jessica Obong, spokeswoman for Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), told AFP.
Obong dismissed calls by some for schools to be closed, insisting it would only play into the hands of the attackers. A nationwide strike by the Nigeria Union of Teachers is not being discussed yet, according to Obong.
Kidnapping for ransom, especially of schoolchildren, is an ongoing issue for authorities in northern Nigeria. In April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls from a girls-only school in Chibok, Borno state.