ABUJA, NIGERIA — The Presidency has launched a scathing attack on the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, criticizing him for failing to acknowledge the successful rescue of the abducted Oriire school pupils and teachers in Oyo State.
Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, took to his official X handle on Saturday to call out the former Vice President, noting that nearly 18 hours after the victims regained their freedom, Atiku had maintained an absolute public silence.
According to Onanuga, Atiku’s sudden reticence is deeply suspect, given how aggressively he criticized the federal government’s handling of the security crisis while the children remained in the trenches.
“Almost 18 hours after the Oriire pupils and their teachers regained their freedom, Atiku Abubakar has not deemed it fit to rejoice with the Tinubu Federal Government, the security agencies and the traumatised victims,” Onanuga wrote.
The presidential aide accused the veteran politician of deliberately exploiting national tragedies for partisan leverage. He asserted that the ADC chieftain had “weaponized the kidnap as a campaign issue several times” since the mass abduction occurred 57 days ago.
“Maybe the veteran presidential runner is waiting for some bad news to attack the Tinubu administration,” Onanuga added, mocking Atiku’s previous frequent commentaries on the matter.
The traumatic saga, which began on May 15, saw 39 pupils and seven teachers—including a school principal—violently abducted by heavily armed bandits from Community Grammar School, Ahoro-Esiele, and Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, in Oriire Local Government Area. The incident sparked national outrage and protests by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) after a mathematics teacher, Michael Oyedokun, was killed while in captivity.
Throughout the 57-day standoff, Atiku had repeatedly issued statements faulting the presidency. He previously described the government’s distribution of rice palliatives to the affected families as “not governance” but an “abdication of responsibility,” insisting that tactical extraction should be the priority. In another statement, he lambasted the administration’s political engagements, saying, “every display of political merriment is a painful reminder of a government that appears increasingly disconnected from the suffering of its own people.”
Conversely, Onanuga warmly commended Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), for his swift public reaction to the rescue.
While Obi stopped short of directly praising President Tinubu, the former Anambra State Governor issued a statement on Saturday expressing that he was “greatly relieved and delighted” to learn of the victims’ safe return. Obi called for widespread thanksgiving and extended his profound appreciation to the joint security personnel whose sacrifices made the freedom possible.
However, Obi added a layer of caution, warning that the euphoria of the Oriire success must not overshadow the broader, systemic challenge of kidnapping across Nigeria, stressing that the state must implement structural security changes to safeguard citizens.
The release of the 46 victims on Friday was pulled off via an intelligence-led operation by a joint team of the Military, the DSS, and the Police. The operation, which resulted in the neutralizing of several bandits and the arrest of eight suspects, was secured without any ransom payment or yielding to the kidnappers’ demands for a high-profile prisoner swap.
