Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education and a leading advocate against mass school abductions, has challenged the Nigerian government’s account of the rescue of victims taken from St. Mary’s Primary and Secondary School in Papiri, Niger State, saying official figures leave at least 35 people unaccounted for.
Reacting on Tuesday via her X (formerly Twitter) handle, Ezekwesili expressed cautious relief over reports that 130 abducted pupils, students and staff had recently been freed following the November 21 attack. However, she warned that public statements suggesting all victims had been rescued do not align with earlier confirmed data.
She recalled that the Christian Association of Nigeria had initially verified that 315 individuals — comprising 303 learners and 12 teachers — were abducted from the school. According to her breakdown, the latest release of 130 victims followed the government’s announcement of 100 rescues on December 7, as well as the escape of 50 victims shortly after the incident.
Ezekwesili said a simple review of these figures indicates that 35 victims are still missing, yet have not been acknowledged in recent official communications.
She criticised government spokespersons for what she described as a pattern of vague and inconsistent reporting whenever mass abductions or killings occur in the country. According to her, the absence of precise data strips victims of identity and reduces national tragedies to statistics without accountability.
The former minister said this trend reflects a deeper governance problem, where the lives of citizens are not treated with the seriousness they deserve. She added that the failure to clearly identify victims, living or dead, weakens public trust and undermines Nigeria’s standing in the international community.
Calling for transparency, Ezekwesili urged authorities to publicly account for every abducted person and to provide clear, verifiable information on their status. She also appealed to Nigerians to insist on better standards from their leaders.
She concluded by asking government officials to clarify the fate of the missing 35 victims, warning against the danger of allowing them to fade into silence, as has happened in other unresolved abduction cases, including those of the remaining Chibok schoolgirls and Leah Sharibu.
The Papiri school attack is one of several mass kidnappings that continue to expose Nigeria’s security vulnerabilities, particularly around educational institutions, despite repeated assurances by authorities of improved safety measures.
