Abuja, 23 November 2025 – Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has launched a blistering attack on President Bola Tinubu’s government, accusing it of effectively “surrendering to terrorists” by contemplating the closure of schools in response to a wave of mass abductions in the north.
In a strongly worded press statement issued on Saturday, the PDP highlighted two recent incidents: the kidnapping of 25 students in Kebbi State and a further 315 students and staff in Niger State. The party described the attacks as part of a broader pattern of insecurity that has left families traumatised and communities gripped by fear.
The opposition warned that any move to shut schools – a step already taken by some state governments and reportedly under consideration by the Federal Government – would hand terrorists a strategic victory. “If the schools are closed, the goal of the terrorists would have been inadvertently achieved,” the statement read, noting that the extremists have long declared formal education, particularly for girls, as “forbidden”.
The PDP argued that closing educational institutions would only worsen the already dire situation in Northern Nigeria, where UNICEF data shows 10.2 million primary-age children and 8.1 million secondary-age children are currently out of school – the highest concentration in the country.
The party accused the Tinubu administration of responding with “lacklustre and unempathetic” measures. It contrasted the President’s decision to send only the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, to Kebbi with the large delegations dispatched to recent international events, calling the response “insensitive and dismissive”.
Instead of temporary school closures, the PDP urged the government to fund and implement the existing National Policy on Safety, Security and Violence-Free Schools, which emphasises community intelligence and rapid security responses.
In a particularly sharp closing remark, the party reminded President Tinubu that “the security of lives and property is the primary function of any government”. It added: “At any time government is unwilling, unable, or incapable of executing this primary role, such a government must either ask for help (locally or internationally) or honourably resign, if it is sincere and responsible.”
The statement was signed by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Ini Ememobong.
As of Sunday evening, the Presidency had not issued an official response to the PDP’s allegations. Security sources in the affected states say rescue operations are ongoing, but no students from either incident have yet been freed.
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