DSS should question Sunday Igboho over claim he knows politicians funding kidnappers — Atiku aide

• Sunday Igboho claimed he knows politicians allegedly funding kidnappers in the South-West.

• Atiku Abubakar's spokesman, Paul Ibe, says the DSS should question the activist if he has actionable information.

• The comments come amid growing concern over the abduction of students and teachers in Oyo State.

A spokesman for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has called on Nigeria's Department of State Services to invite Yoruba nation activist Sunday Igboho for questioning, following claims by the activist that he knows the politicians allegedly financing kidnappers behind the abduction of students and teachers in Oyo State.

Paul Ibe, Atiku's media adviser, made the call on Thursday via X, arguing that if Igboho genuinely holds information relevant to the abductions, security agencies have an obligation to act on it.

He said every available option should be explored to secure the release of the victims and dismantle the networks responsible.

Igboho's comments, which prompted Ibe's response, were made during a meeting with members of the National Association of Nigerian Students.

The activist claimed the kidnappers operating in parts of the South-West were neither beyond reach nor particularly formidable, and that their continued operation was being sustained by political actors providing them with funding and weapons.

He stopped short of naming anyone, but warned that he would make the identities public if the attacks continued.

The abductions in Oriire Local Government Area have drawn significant attention to what many had regarded as a relatively stable part of the country, and have raised fresh concerns about the southward spread of a kidnapping crisis that has long been associated with Nigeria's northern regions.

Ibe used the moment to widen the conversation beyond Oyo State, questioning why the Federal Government had not matched its response to the Oriire situation with equal attention to the reported abduction of more than 50 schoolchildren in Mussa, Borno State on May 15.

He challenged President Tinubu to explain the disparity in official engagement between the two incidents, and asked when states like Borno would benefit from the kind of security interventions being extended to others. "Are those school children not Nigerians?" he asked.

The DSS has not publicly responded to Ibe's call, and no official reaction to Igboho's allegations has been issued by any security agency at the time of publication.

The exchange lands against a broader backdrop of concern over school safety in Nigeria, a country that has experienced repeated mass abductions over the past decade.

Calls for stronger intelligence infrastructure, better community policing, and more proactive government intervention have grown louder with each incident, and the latest developments suggest the pressure on authorities is unlikely to ease anytime soon.

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