Trending 
The Acting General Secretary of the Take It Back Movement, Olabiyi Stephen, has alleged that members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) disrupted a recent protest organised by the group in Oyo State over the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area.
Speaking during News Central’s Town Hall in Oyo State on Thursday, Stephen claimed that the protest, which was organised to draw attention to the plight of the abductees and demand their release, was disrupted by individuals who arrived in buses.
“There was a disruption and after investigations, we discovered that the Oyo State Government sent students to attack us in Bodija,” he said.
“If you are here, I know you will deny it. They came with their buses.”
Stephen said the protest was organised to demand urgent action from the government over the continued captivity of more than 40 schoolchildren and teachers abducted from communities in Oriire Local Government Area on May 15.
“Our government has neglected us, and we need to mobilise and do the needful. The children are suffering in the forest under harsh weather conditions. And it is saddening. That is why we staged a protest in Oyo State recently,” he said.
The activist also criticised the government’s response to the abduction, noting that officials took two weeks to visit the affected communities and families of the victims.
“On the day they abducted the schoolchildren and teachers from Oriire, we began condemning the abduction and the government. It took the government two weeks to visit the community and relatives of the victims,” he said.
“Our leaders don’t like us. But when they abducted Adelabu’s family, it took them two days to visit his family. Are the abductees from Oriire not children as well?”
Stephen further faulted the operations of the Amotekun Corps, accusing the regional security outfit of failing to adequately protect communities from criminal attacks.
“When we demanded the deployment of Amotekun operatives to guard our forests, but now they have become bouncers in parties. They are not doing their job,” he added.
“There was a day when I called an Amotekun operative after a robbery in my community, they did not come until the following morning.”
News Central’s Town Hall, themed “Oyo at a Crossroads: Security, Safety and the Future,” brought together victims of attacks from Oyo and Kwara States, security experts, traditional rulers, religious leaders, and political representatives to explore solutions to rising insecurity in the South-West.
