President Bola Tinubu has assured Nigerians grieving for their abducted children that his administration has intensified efforts to rescue the children from their captors as well as enhanced stronger school protections and comprehensive care for survivors.
President Tinubu disclosed that the government has neither abandoned nor forgotten the abducted children, as directives have been issued to the security agencies for their safe rescue.
The pledge was contained in his message on the 2026 Children’s Day celebration.
“As a father and your president: you are not forgotten. You are not abandoned,” Tinubu said, speaking directly to children, parents and teachers still held in captivity in Oyo, Borno and other affected states.
“Some children have been forced into fear,” he said, acknowledging the suffering of the country. Some parents are unable to participate in today’s festivities because they are focused on a single prayer: “Bring our children home.”
In light of the Children’s Day theme, “Future Now: Promoting Inclusion for Every Nigerian Child”, the president presented the crisis as a pressing security issue as well as a moral failure.
“Your government will not turn your suffering into a ceremony for the bereaved and hopeless families.” “Until children who have been taken from their homes, schools, and communities are safely returned, and until those who profit from this cruelty are brought to justice, we will keep working,” he said.
All pertinent security agencies were instructed by President Tinubu to “sustain and intensify coordinated rescue operations”, which are intelligence-driven and centred on the safe recovery of children.
Additionally, he directed the immediate enhancements to school security in high-risk areas, such as improved vulnerability mapping, closer coordination between security commands and state governments, quick response connections between schools and local security units, and more robust community-based early warning systems.
The president emphasised that “every school in a vulnerable area must know who to call, what to do, where to move, and how to protect children when danger is identified” and that “the Federal Ministry of Education, working with state governments, is to deepen the implementation of the Safe Schools framework with clear reporting, clear responsibility, and clear timelines.”
Rescue is just the start of the state’s responsibility, he underlined. He emphasised that “a child who returns from trauma must return to care, medical attention, counselling, education, and dignity”, directing ministries and organisations to guarantee that children who have recovered receive “proper reintegration support, not temporary attention.”
The president, however, cautioned that the government cannot be the only entity responsible for safeguarding children.
He asserts that “parents, teachers, traditional rulers, religious leaders, community leaders, youth groups, transport unions, local vigilantes, and the media” are crucial to prevention and response.
“When a community sees strange movement around a school and keeps quiet, a child is placed at risk,” he said in a direct reminder of collective responsibility. Families suffer when warning signs are disregarded.
“My administration remains committed to a Nigeria where every child can learn safely, grow in good health, eat well, access opportunity, and dream without fear,” Tinubu stated in reference to the broader promise for Nigeria’s children. Because childhood shouldn’t be a privilege only enjoyed by a select few, we are investing in education, health care, nutrition, social protection, digital skills, and safer communities.
“To our children, you matter, your dreams matter; your safety matters,” the president continued in his speech. Your education is important. Rest certain that this government and this country care about your future, and we will protect it.
