Former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi has voiced strong criticism over the abduction of candidates sitting for the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination in Benue State, describing the development as both alarming and unacceptable.
In a statement posted on his verified X account on Friday, Obi framed the incident as part of a wider breakdown in national security, warning that a country that fails to protect its young people risks undermining its own future.
He described the abduction of students preparing for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) as deeply troubling, noting that young Nigerians striving to secure educational opportunities are instead being confronted by violence and fear.
Obi further drew attention to Nigeria’s already low tertiary education attainment rate—estimated at about 1%—which falls significantly behind countries such as Indonesia, with roughly 13%, and South Africa at around 10%. Against this backdrop, he argued that losing even more students to insecurity is particularly damaging.
He wrote:
“We cannot afford to lose even one more student to violence. A nation that abandons its youth abandons its future.
“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.
“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,” he wrote.
GoNews had reported that at least 14 candidates were abducted by unidentified gunmen in the state, raising renewed concerns about the safety of students and the broader security situation in parts of the country.
