Reacting to the development on Saturday, Obi said the kidnapping of students on their way to secure a future through education highlights what he called a troubling failure of leadership and a collapse of the country’s security architecture.
“The news of the abduction of innocent UTME candidates in Benue State is not just heartbreaking but a damning indictment of the failure of leadership and the collapse of security in our nation,” Obi said.
He expressed concern that young Nigerians striving for education are increasingly exposed to danger, warning that such incidents further undermine the country’s already low educational attainment levels.
“Young Nigerians striving for an education are being met with terror. In a country where the share of tertiary graduates is already painfully low (about 1%) which is far below peers like Indonesia (about 13%) and South Africa (around 10%). This is unacceptable. We cannot afford to lose even one more student to violence,” he stated.
Obi also took aim at those responsible for ensuring the safety of citizens, accusing them of focusing more on political ambitions than on securing lives and property.
“Those entrusted with protecting these young students appear increasingly preoccupied with the next election, projecting strength and power to rig elections, rather than deploying that same power and agencies to secure our roads, prevent these crimes, and rescue the abducted children who should not be in the hands of criminals but in examination halls,” he said.
The former governor warned that the abduction should not be viewed as an isolated case but as part of a growing and dangerous trend across the country.
“This is no longer an isolated tragedy. It is a pattern. It is a national crisis. And it demands urgent, decisive, and responsible action, not excuses, not silence, but leadership that matches the scale of the emergency this deserves,” Obi added.
He stressed that the implications of such insecurity extend beyond the immediate victims, affecting the nation’s long-term development and future stability.
“A nation that abandons its youth abandons its future. This cannot continue,” Obi warned.
