Photo caption: Human rights activist and African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore
Security presence was reinforced around the access routes to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday, with anti-riot policemen cordoning the main gates of the State House.
PUNCH Online understands that the security beef-up follows a planned march to the Villa by human rights activist and African Action Congress presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore, who declared that he would lead protesters to Aso Rock if the abducted schoolchildren from Oyo and Borno states were not rescued.
Our correspondent observed a heavy deployment of anti-riot police at the Villa’s main entrance, with officers in full riot gear forming a cordon around the gates.
Access to the premises remained restricted to persons with State House identification tags, with security personnel turning back others who attempted to approach.
Sowore announced on Wednesday that the leadership of the AAC and its affiliated Take It Back Movement would march from Eagle Square in Abuja to the Presidential Villa beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 4, under the hashtag #OccupyAsoRock.
He said participants would demand the immediate release of school children and other victims kidnapped across Nigeria, and called on President Tinubu to ensure the safe return of the abducted children or resign from office for failing in the fundamental duty of protecting the lives and security of Nigerians.
Sowore had first issued the threat during a protest in the FCT earlier in the week.
He said, “You cannot claim to be president of Nigeria and then refuse to do the job of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. We are not here to beg anybody.
“We are just asking people who claim they are elected to protect Nigerians to do their work. It would have been great if the number of policemen preventing this march could instead protect our schools.”
He also challenged security agents protecting politicians saying, “Your children are also in schools. If the school becomes a ground for kidnapping, one day your children too will be kidnapped.”
The planned march is directed at the government’s response to the May 15, 2026, abductions of approximately 39 students and seven teachers across three schools including Community Grammar School, Baptist Nursery and Primary School, and L.A. Primary School, in Esiele and Yawota communities of Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
A second abduction involving 42 pupils from Mussa Primary and Junior Secondary School in Askira-Uba, Borno State, occurred on the same day.
The federal government on Sunday dispatched a high-powered delegation led by Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila, including the NSA, the Inspector-General of Police and the Chief of Defence Staff, to the affected Oyo communities, during which Tinubu approved the recruitment of 1,000 forest guards and the deployment of a specialised rescue unit.
The administration also requested community cooperation and said the operation would be conducted using both kinetic and non-kinetic measures.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers declared an indefinite strike in Oyo State beginning June 1, with schools shut and nationwide solidarity rallies held across state capitals on June 2.
