For Immediate Release
18 May 2026
Press Release
CLEEN Foundation Expresses Alarm Over Persistent Security Failures Despite Safe School Initiative and the National Safe School Response Coordination Centre
CLEEN Foundation strongly condemns the recent and distressing surge in insecurity following the events of Friday, May 15, 2026, where suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP gunmen attacked Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira-Uba LGA, Borno State, abducting approximately 42 students. Within that same 24-hour window, the nation suffered a further blow as coordinated attacks were carried out on multiple schools in Orire LGA (Ogbomosho axis), Oyo State, including Baptist Nursery and Primary School, resulting in the abduction of roughly 45 students and teachers.
These harrowing events further highlight the chronic instability plaguing schools and communities nationwide, posing a direct threat to the safety, dignity, and future of Nigeria’s youth despite the Safe School Initiatives where stakeholders have sank fortune. CLEEN Foundation is deeply alarmed by the persistent targeting of educational institutions and the vulnerability of children within these settings. It is imperative that schools remain sanctuaries for growth and learning, rather than being transformed into arenas of fear and violence.
While we acknowledge the ongoing rescue operations, these tragedies serve as a stark indictment of the current presidential school safety initiatives. Despite significant investment, the ease with which schools in both Borno and Oyo were breached suggests that the National Plan for Financing Safe Schools is failing to deliver on its promise of deterrence. The persistence of these attacks signals a critical breakdown in the last mile of intelligence, where early warning signals fail to reach local administrators in time to prevent abductions. We must move beyond symbolic gestures and theoretical workshops toward a strategy that prioritises active, 24/7 rapid response and tangible protection on the ground.
There is now an urgent need to re-evaluate this centralized security architecture, which has proven insufficient in protecting geographically diverse communities. The crisis highlights a desperate necessity to pivot toward decentralised, community-driven security models that empower local actors and integrate them into the formal safety grid. To truly safeguard the future of Nigerian children, the government must shift from a reactive mindset of pursuing abductors to a proactive framework of total prevention. Real safety requires a radical commitment to transparency and localized accountability, ensuring that our learning environments are no longer treated as soft targets for terror.
In light of these developments, CLEEN Foundation would like to call on:
- The Federal Government and affected State Governments to intensify coordinated rescue efforts to ensure the safe and unconditional release of all abducted victims, insisting that the safe and immediate rescue of the children must be treated as a national priority.
- Security agencies to strengthen surveillance, intelligence sharing, and rapid response systems in vulnerable communities and around schools.
- Audit the Safe Schools Declaration and invest in sustainable school protection measures, especially in high-risk and underserved areas.
- Community leaders, parents, and local stakeholders collaborate closely with security agencies by sharing timely information capable of preventing future attacks.
- Development partners and civil society organizations to support trauma response, psychosocial services, and recovery initiatives for the affected children, families, and communities.
The continued attacks on schools threaten not only the right to education but also national peace, stability, and development going against the SDG 4 which ensures inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Every child deserves access to education in a safe and secure environment without fear of abduction. CLEEN Foundation stands in solidarity with the affected families, schools, and communities during this difficult period and reiterates its commitment in promoting public safety, accountability, and the protection of human rights across Nigeria.
Signed
Peter Maduoma
Executive Director
