What is “happy” about Children’s Day when there are little Nigerian children in captivity for over 12 days?
On a day like this, fun parks will be filled, parents will strive to make their children’s favorite meals, and children will be all bubbly. But sadly, this is not the fate of certain Nigerian children today.
Children as young as 2 years are still in the den of terrorists
On Friday, May 15, terrorists stormed schools in the Ahoro-Esiele/Yawota axis of Oriire, Ogbomosho, right in the middle of the school day. They took 39 students, including kindergartners, and seven teachers from three schools in one sweep. Videos from captivity show these children being tortured, hot wax from a burning keg dripped on their small bodies. Twelve days later, they are still not home.
That same morning, in Mussa community, Borno State, terrorists walked into three schools and abducted 51 kids. There were children as young as two years old amongst them also.
These are not statistics. These are children who had breakfast that morning. Children who probably complained about waking up early. Children who had no idea that the last normal thing they would do was walk through a school gate.
Today, while Nigerian children in cities celebrate with cake and new clothes, the families of these children are waiting. The mothers in Mussa are waiting. The parents in Ogbomosho are waiting. Nobody is eating cake in those homes today. Nobody is singing.
Children’s Day in Nigeria has always been a performance, a chance for the country to pretend it values its youngest citizens. But you cannot celebrate children’s day with one hand and abandon children to terrorists with the other.
These children did not choose to be born in a country where going to school is a risk. The least we can do is show up for them too. Share this story. Keep their names in your mouth and refuse to let the news cycle bury them.
