We Celebrated Children’s Day, Some Children Spent It In Captivity

While government officials, public institutions, schools and families across the country marked Children’s Day with messages of hope and celebration, some Nigerian children spent the day far away from their homes, classrooms and loved ones. They were not celebrating. They were living through fear and uncertainty in circumstances no child should ever experience. That reality should trouble every Nigerian.

The recent incidents involving the kidnapping of schoolchildren and their teachers across different parts of the country have once again reminded us that insecurity remains one of the most urgent challenges facing our nation. Every abduction leaves behind frightened children, traumatised parents, distressed communities and teachers whose only mission was to educate young minds.

The kidnapping of children strikes at the very heart of society. When children become targets, parents lose confidence. When teachers become victims, schools lose their sense of safety. When schools become unsafe, communities begin to worry about the future. Education cannot flourish where fear has become a constant companion.

Perhaps one of the greatest dangers before us is the temptation to become accustomed to these tragedies. News of kidnappings now arrives so frequently that many people are beginning to view them as ordinary events. That should never happen. No society should become comfortable with the suffering of its children.

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As a teacher, these incidents affect me deeply. The truth is that I no longer watch many of the disturbing videos that emerge from such situations because of the emotional impact they have on me. Seeing children in distress, parents crying for help and communities thrown into grief leaves a burden that is difficult to describe.

At a time when much of the nation’s political energy is increasingly being directed towards future elections and political alignments, Nigerians also expect an equal sense of urgency in addressing the security challenges confronting innocent citizens. The protection of lives should remain a priority that rises above political interests, party affiliations and electoral calculations.

The responsibility for protecting our children does not rest with one institution alone. It belongs to government at all levels, security agencies, lawmakers, traditional institutions, religious bodies, community leaders and every citizen who has a role to play in safeguarding society. The safety of children should never become a matter for routine statements; it should remain a national concern demanding sustained action.

What Nigerians desire is not merely sympathy after every tragedy. They want to see stronger protection for schools, improved intelligence gathering, better coordination among security agencies and visible measures capable of preventing these incidents before they occur. They want reassurance that their children can go to school and return home safely.

A nation honours its children best not through speeches alone, but through the protection it gives them. The true measure of our commitment to the future lies in how seriously we treat the safety and wellbeing of those who will inherit that future.

Children’s Day has come and gone, but for some families, there was little cause for celebration. Their thoughts were not on festivities but on the safe return of their children. As the nation moves on, we must not forget those still living with fear, uncertainty and grief. We remember the children, their teachers, their parents and their communities.

The greatest tragedy is not only that children are being taken from their schools. It is that we are slowly becoming accustomed to hearing about it. When children fear schools and teachers fear classrooms, society begins to lose both sleep and conscience. We must not allow that reality to become normal.

Lawrence Efeturi
Assoc.CIEPUK
The Insight Pen