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Parents and guardians of schoolchildren abducted from Mussa and Lassa communities in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State have given the Federal Government six days to secure their release.
The parents, alongside community members, made the demand during a protest in Maiduguri on Sunday, warning that they would stage a larger demonstration at the Presidential Villa in Abuja if the children remained in captivity.
Chairman of the Mussa Parents of Abductees, Shuibu Umaru, appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the immediate rescue of the children, who are believed to be held by insurgents in the Sambisa Forest.
Umaru questioned why abducted children in Oyo State were rescued while those from Mussa and Lassa remained in captivity, stressing that the affected families were also Nigerian citizens.
“We are giving you six days to rescue our children; otherwise, we will stage a big protest at the Presidential Villa gate in Abuja,” he said.
The lawmaker representing Askira/Uba and Hawul Federal Constituency, Dr Midala Usman Balami, said the children had been in captivity since May 15, 2026, and called on the Federal and Borno State governments to deploy all available resources to secure their release.
Balami said he had raised the matter at the National Assembly and continued to pursue it, adding that the abducted children had spent more than 130 days in captivity.
He disclosed that 44 children were abducted from Mussa Ward and 36 from Lassa, while 36 travellers were also reportedly abducted along Buratai Road.
The lawmaker urged President Tinubu to act on the matter as a constitutional responsibility, stressing the need for federal and state authorities to collaborate to rescue the victims and reunite them with their families.
Umaru said the families could no longer remain silent over the prolonged captivity and reiterated that the parents would proceed to Abuja to protest if the six-day ultimatum expired without the children being rescued.
