A Borno State federal lawmaker, Midala Balami and the Hawu/Askira-Uba Elders Forum have appealed to the Nigerian government to intensify efforts towards the release of the abducted children from their community in May 2026.
According to Mr Balami, he said that over one hundred days have passed since the children were abducted at different locations in Borno State, and no tangible results have been seen.
” As a representative of Askira-Ubar, I have been having sleepless nights. It is so devastating that most times I lose my appetite. And I hardly find even my peace. This is the level of devastation. I want to tell you today, this calling that we have come to call was just one of them,” he said.
He noted that the community expected that the government should have put in more effort.
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” Apart from my motion on the 2nd of June, when this incident happened, you recall that when this incident happened, we were on recess. And the day we returned from recess, we quickly took up this matter as a matter of public importance and emergency. At my level, as a representative of the people, we have gone so far as to push the government and ask that the government take action.
” The government must demonstrate that the Constitution of Nigeria, which makes it mandatory for it to protect lives and propertyust deployall the resources needed to rescue our children who have suffered for more than 100 days in captivity. We are demanding the same kind of energy that was deployed for children who were rescued yesterday in Oyo. Is it that we are coming from the fringes of Sambisa forest that our lives don’t matter anymore? Is it that our voice is one, or are we no longer Nigerians? These are the questions we are asking.
” We are asking because we are talking about the lives of our people. Thank you for the opportunity”. Mr Lami said.
He also said that the community has staged prayer programmes both in Abuja and in Maiduguri.
” We have staged protests in and in Abuja. Parents have staged protests. We have addressed the press in Maiduguri and here. We are yet to hear from any source,” he said.
The Secretary, Hawu/Askira-Uba Elders Forum, Malla Gadzama, in a text titled ” BRING OUR CHILDREN HOME“, urged the government to have mercy on the community and intensify efforts to release the children.
” For 100 days, families have lived through unimaginable pain, anxiety, fear and suffering following the abduction of their children and loved ones.
Among those abducted are 42 pupils and students from Mussa Primary and Junior Day Secondary School, who were abducted on 15 May 2026 in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno State. On that same day, schoolchildren and teachers were also abducted in Oyo State. While the Oyo victims were subsequently rescued, the families of the Mussa victims continued to wait for the safe return of their loved ones. Mr Gadzama said.
He said that the forum also remembers the students abducted from Government Day Secondary School, Lassa, on 29 June 2026, while they were writing their National Examinations Council (NECO) examinations.
“We are also demanding the immediate rescue of the 38 persons reportedly abducted along the Buratai Road to Maiduguri, as well as all those taken along the Chibok route and other major and vulnerable routes across Borno State. These are not statistics. They are children. They are sons and daughters. They are brothers and sisters. They are wives and husbands. They are fathers and mothers. They are human beings with families waiting, praying and crying for them every single day,” he said.
He pointed out that one hundred days with children in captivity was too long.
” We respectfully call on His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to urgently intervene and ensure that every available national security resource is mobilised towards the rescue of these abducted children and citizens. We equally call on His Excellency, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, Governor of Borno State, to continue using the full weight of his office to press for the immediate rescue of these children and all other abducted citizens of Borno State,” he added.
The forum ended with a prayer for the safe return of the children.
