Saving Oyo and the imperative of equal justice

The rescue of abducted pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of ​​Oyo State deserves national acclaim. After 56 harrowing days of captivity, the victims were reunited with their families, ending weeks of anguish that gripped the country. Whether history ultimately records their freedom as a courageous rescue or as a liberation brought about by relentless military pressure is a question that may continue to attract debate. What is beyond dispute is that there are innocent children at home and for that Nigeria should be grateful.

The Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa, was therefore right to laud the coordinated and intelligence-led efforts of the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, the Office of the National Security Adviser and other security agencies whose collaboration culminated in the operation. The rescue demonstrates that when intelligence is shared, agencies work in harmony, and political will is matched with operational resolve, significant results can be achieved.

That lesson must not be forgotten. Operation Oyo also underlined another important reality: the power of continuous public defense. Civil society organisations, trade unions, professional associations, media. and concerned Nigerians have kept the plight of the abducted pupils in the public eye. Their campaigns ensured that the incident remained a national priority and that the pressure on the authorities did not diminish as time passed.

This is exactly how an engaged society should work. However, there is a worrying gap that cannot be ignored. On the same day Oyo abduction occurred, another group of school children were reportedly abducted in Askira-Uba Local Government Area of ​​Borno State. Elsewhere, families in communities like Woro in Kwara State continue to await the return of loved ones who were reportedly kidnapped months ago. Their stories rarely dominate national conversations. Their names rarely trend on social media. Their parents cry with the same anguish, but far fewer people seem to hear them.

This disparity raises difficult but necessary questions. Should the value placed on Nigerian lives depend on where the kidnapping occurs? Should national outrage be stronger when tragedy strikes one region than when it strikes another? Should support become selective, responding vigorously to some victims while neglecting others?

The answer should be obvious. Every Nigerian child has the same constitutional value. Every family deserves the same empathy. Every community has an equal right to the protection of the Nigerian State.

This is why the success recorded in Oyo should not be celebrated as a regional triumph but embraced as a national model. If intelligence gathering, interagency cooperation and determined leadership are successful, then those same capabilities should be employed with equal urgency to secure the release of children still in captivity elsewhere, particularly in conflict-affected areas of the North East and North Central.

The praise, rightly directed at the security agencies, should therefore be accompanied by an equally firm expectation. The Oyo operation must become the rule, not the exception. Success should not be measured by a rescue while many other families continue to wait in painful uncertainty.

The same principle applies to civil society. Advocacy derives its moral authority from coherence. It loses credibility when it appears selective or driven by geography, politics or media attention. Human rights organizations, professional bodies, religious groups and civic movements should sustain the same energy they invested in Oyo for every community facing similar tragedies. Compassion cannot be regional. Humanity cannot be sectional.

This is not to diminish the importance of saving Oyo. Far from it. It’s about insisting that the triumph should inspire broader national commitment. Nigerians have now seen what coordinated security efforts can achieve. They should rightly expect the same commitment for every citizen, regardless of location or identity.

Nigeria cannot afford this seemingly divisive approach. A child abducted in Askira-Uba deserves the same urgency as a child abducted in Oriire. A bereaved parent in Borno suffers no less than a bereaved parent in Oyo. Justice loses its meaning when it appears applied unequally.

The Minister of Defense rightly celebrated the success of the operation. The next challenge is even greater: ensuring that the same intelligence, operational coordination and determination are used for every unsolved kidnapping across the country. This is how confidence in the nation’s security architecture will grow.

The true measure of national leadership lies not in how it celebrates a success, but in how steadfastly it rescues those still in captivity. Until every captive child returns home, the work of government, the vigilance of civil society, and the conscience of the nation will remain undone.