Row In Abuja As Pro-Tinubu Group Accuses Governor Makinde Of Hiding Abducted Oriire Children For Politics

ABUJA — A pro-Tinubu group has stormed the streets of the Federal Capital Territory to stage a protest against the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, accusing his administration of weaponizing the recent Oriire kidnapping incident for political leverage.

The demonstrators, carrying placards and chanting solidarity songs in support of the federal government, alleged that the Oyo State Governor is intentionally hiding the abducted school children to paint the federal security architecture in a bad light and boost his presidential ambition.

The protest follows the high-profile abduction of school children and teachers in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, an incident that has heightened political tensions between regional leaders and federal authorities over the efficiency of the police and military.

Spokespersons for the pro-Tinubu coalition demanded that Governor Makinde stop playing politics with the lives of innocent citizens and cooperate fully with federal intelligence agencies to ensure the immediate release of the victims. They insisted that President Bola Tinubu’s ongoing security reforms should be allowed to continue uninterrupted without state-level sabotage.

“You hid our children because you want to be president,” one of the protest leaders declared during a press briefing at the demonstration site. “We are calling on the federal government to look inward because some opposition elements are actively manufacturing insecurity to discredit the presidency.”

The Oyo State Government has previously maintained that it is deploying all local resources, including the Amotekun Corps and joint security forces, to comb the forests for the missing children, dismissing allegations of political sabotage as desperate distractions from federal security lapses.