By Abisola Oluremi &Olubunmi Agboola
The Nigerian Baptist Convention, NBC, has condemned the abduction of 46 people, including a two-year-old toddler, by terrorists in communities within Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, calling for immediate government and community action to end the spate of attacks.
The convention said it received the news “with deep sorrow and outrage.” According to verified firsthand reports from church members, 39 students and seven teachers were taken from Community High School, Ahoro-Esinele, and Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School. Among those abducted is two-year-old Christianah Akanbi of Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School. Four motorcycles were also snatched during the attack—three from Yawota community and one from the high school.
President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr. Israel Adelani Akanji, said the church was “particularly grieved” by the condition of the children and toddler, who he said are being held in the bush without shelter and exposed daily to rain and harsh weather.
“Some teachers lost their lives in the attack while those in captivity are undergoing harrowing experiences and untold hardship that no human being should have to endure, let alone be forced into,” Akanji said in Ibadan.
He described the incident as part of a painful pattern of attacks on Baptist schools and churches nationwide, citing the July 5, 2021 abduction of 120 students and a matron from Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi, Kaduna. “The experience for both parents and the Church was horrifying,” he said.
Akanji said repeated calls to end the killings, abductions, and destruction of churches and property have gone unanswered, and the situation is worsening. “Nigerians, particularly the Church, are running out of patience and cannot continue to watch while lives and properties are being daily wasted,” he stated.
The convention urged federal, state, and local governments to coordinate a decisive response “beyond mere statements.” It called on security agencies to adopt a “more robust, focused, modern and hard attack strategy” to eliminate criminal elements.
Akanji also appealed to traditional rulers, community leaders, and civil society to take ownership of local security, saying the burden cannot rest on government alone. He urged the federal government to seek international assistance if needed and reiterated the call for the immediate establishment of state police equipped to confront bandits in cooperation with local security groups.
“Nigeria has been left wounded, bleeding and dying like the victim of the Jerusalem-Jericho Road in the Bible,” Akanji said, referencing his 2022 Independence Day sermon at the National Christian Centre, Abuja.
He condemned the targeting of children as an affront to God, noting Jesus’ teaching on the protection of little ones. “This dimension of brutalizing fellow human beings, particularly little children, is a call for divine wrath on the perpetrators, which they cannot escape.”
The convention commiserated with families who lost loved ones, prayed for the safe return of those in captivity, and assured the government of full support and cooperation in rescue efforts. It also called on Baptists and Nigerians of goodwill to intensify prayers for the captives’ release and for lasting peace.
Edited by Titilayo Kupoliyi
