Pray for the Kidnappers Tinubu Tells Nigeria as Two Year Old Still Held in Oyo Forest

On a Children’s Day when dozens of Nigerian children are still held hostage by armed bandits in Oyo State, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu issued a stunning appeal to the nation. He did not announce a rescue operation. He did not declare a state of emergency on school security. Instead, he asked Nigerians to pray.

In his official Eid el Kabir message released on Tuesday, President Tinubu called on citizens to pray that bandits and terrorists might “rethink and abandon their evil ways.” The statement, carried by multiple media outlets including The Guardian, Arise TV, and The Cable, came exactly twelve days after armed men attacked three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The attack on May 15, 2026, ripped dozens of pupils and teachers from their classrooms. Among the abducted was a two year old toddler. As Nigerian children celebrated Children’s Day 2026, that toddler and other young captives were still sitting on forest floors, surrounded by men with guns. The Oyo State Police Command had already dismissed rumours of their release as false. Governor Seyi Makinde admitted the children had not been found.

President Tinubu acknowledged in his message that “heartless terrorists and bandits still attack some communities.” He assured the nation, “You are neither abandoned nor forgotten. We will ultimately defeat all the forces of evil.” But his primary solution, presented to millions of Nigerians on a public holiday, was a call for intercessory prayer. “Let us pray that those who commit crimes among us may rethink and abandon their evil ways, or face the full weight of the law,” the President said.

For many parents in Oyo State, the statement was an unbearable insult. A mother whose seven year old daughter was taken from a school in Igbon community broke down when she heard the news. She told local reporters, “I do not need prayers for the bandits. I need my daughter back. I need the President to send soldiers, not Bible verses.”

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Nigerians were swift and brutal. Human rights lawyer and activist Femi Falana questioned the administration’s priorities. “We have a commander in chief who prays for criminals instead of hunting them,” Falana said. “Children are in captivity on their own day of celebration. This is not leadership. This is abandonment dressed in religious language.”

The contrast could not be starker. While President Tinubu celebrated the economy, declaring that “the walk through the dark tunnel is over” and that Nigeria was becoming “a preferred investment destination,” the real tunnel for kidnapped children remained pitch black. No amount of investment rhetoric can light a forest where a two year old sleeps on the ground.

The Presidency did not provide any update on security operations in Oyo State. No timeline was given for the children’s rescue. No explanation was offered for why, twelve days after the abduction, the federal government had failed to secure their release.

Children’s Day in Nigeria is meant to honour the nation’s youngest citizens. In 2026, it became a day of shame. A day when the President asked the country to pray for the repentance of kidnappers while kidnapped children waited in silence. A day when hundreds of millions of naira in security budgets and international loans yielded nothing but a prayer request.

President Tinubu ended his message by wishing Nigerians a peaceful and blessed Eid. For the families of Oyo State, there is no peace. There is only a two year old who is not home, a classroom that is empty, and a President who believes that prayer is enough.

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