The Nigerian Senate has just approved a ₦50 million donation to the families of the Oyo School attack victims and those who died during the school abduction in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
This announcement was made on Wednesday by Godswill Akpabio, Nigeria’s Senate president and the number 3 man in the country. He spoke during the plenary session in Abuja, where he described the deaths as a painful sacrifice. He said the victims gave their lives in Nigeria’s fight against the ongoing insecurity that is plaguing the nation.
Senator Akpabio also broke down the donation distribution during his announcement. He said ₦10 million will go to each bereaved family. This covers the two teachers who were murdered by the gunmen and also covers the three soldiers who died during the rescue operation.
The former Akwa Ibom governor also explained the purpose of the gesture. He said the Senate wants to support the grieving families and also honor the sacrifices made by the deceased during the tragic incident.
He further praised the Nigerian Armed Forces and equally commended other security agencies for their brave efforts in the rescue operation. Akpabio thanked them for the successful rescue operation of the abducted victim, noting that the hostages spent over fifty days in captivity before their freedom.
Backstory: Insecurity Hitting Every Corner in Nigeria
Before the recent incident, Oyo State had enjoyed relative peace as most bandits and kidnappers focused their terror on the North. They have raided several villages in Zamfara, Katsina, and Kaduna, as well as some villages in the North Central region. They seized women and school children in Chibok and Dapchi. However, Oriire changed that narrative and proved that no corner of Nigeria is truly safe from the claws of insecurity.
The Oriire abduction shocked the Southwest, as parents and guardians in Oyo had never faced or experienced this kind of horror. They sent their children to school believing in the security of their community, but the bandits shattered that belief in a single morning.
The rescue operation of the Oyo school attack victims came after fifty days of agony as the victims’ families waited. They prayed for God’s intervention; they negotiated with the terrorists, but eventually the military moved in. They freed the victims, but they lost three of their own. Two teachers also never made it home at all.
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The Senate’s donation offers cold comfort; ₦10 million cannot replace a father, a mother, a son, or a daughter. But it acknowledges a debt, a debt owed by the nation to the victim families. It owes a debt to the soldiers who died wearing the uniform. It owes a debt to the teachers who stood between the gunmen and their pupils.
Nigeria’s insecurity crisis deepens by the day as bandits roam freely across its state borders. Kidnappers now treat requesting ransom as a business model to get rich and buy. The government promises action, but the promises rarely match the reality. Oriire is just the latest name on a growing list of tragedies.
The ₦50 million will help the families. It will pay some bills. It will fund some burials. But it will not stop the next attack. It will not disarm the next group of gunmen. Only genuine security reform can do that. And that remains the hardest promise of all to keep.
