VP Shettima Assures Anxious Nation Tinubu is Working Day and Night to Rescue Kidnapped Oyo Victims; Calls for Unified Prayers at Abuja Mosque

Vice President Kashim Shettima has delivered a powerful message of resilience and federal commitment on behalf of the presidency, assuring citizens that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is working tirelessly behind the scenes to engineer the safe tactical rescue of all citizens currently trapped in kidnapping camps across Oyo State.

The executive reassurance was delivered on Friday, June 5, 2026, at the Abuja National Mosque, where prominent political leaders, cabinet members, and Islamic clerics had gathered for a special Juma’at service. The religious assembly served as a solemn spiritual prelude to the nation’s upcoming 2026 Democracy Day celebrations, providing a reflective backdrop as the country navigates a series of severe internal security challenges.

Addressing congregants and state correspondents after the prayers, Vice President Shettima acknowledged the profound structural trauma currently ripping through local communities. The South-West region has remained highly volatile following the mid-May mass abductions of 40 pupils and teachers in the Oriire Local Government Area of Ogbomoso, a crisis heavily compounded this week by the daring morning ambush and kidnapping of Mrs. Olaide Busayo John-Paul—the younger sister of former Power Minister Chief Adebayo Adelabu and her 12-year-old twin sons in Ibadan.

While the continuous security fractures have triggered nationwide solidarity rallies by the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) and fierce political ultimatums from opposition leaders, Shettima maintained that the central treasury and military high commands have not folded their arms.

“The government remains irrevocably committed to the total restoration of peace and stability across every corridor of this federation,” Vice President Shettima declared with absolute candor. “I want to assure all Nigerians that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is acutely aware of the nation’s pain. He is working tirelessly behind the scenes, day and night, coordinating with our security chiefs to ensure a successful technical rescue of our citizens in Oyo and other affected areas. No matter how long the night is, it must give way to the light of the dawn. Stormy the weather might well be, but it can’t rain forever.”

The Vice President’s declarations are synchronized with an aggressive defensive manual recently unmasked by the Ministry of Information, which confirmed that President Tinubu has already authorized the immediate recruitment of 1,000 localized forest guards to lock down porous border trails in Oyo, alongside the deployment of an elite, intelligence-led rescue squad utilizing advanced drone surveillance tracking.

Shifting his focus to the historical weight of the upcoming democratic anniversary, Shettima urged citizens to protect the nation’s hard-earned democratic liberties with active faith, mutual cooperation, and unyielding hope. He strongly cautioned against the adoption of divisive identity-driven narratives, arguing that national transformation cannot be achieved in an atmosphere of engineered friction.

“It’s simple: let’s pray for the peace and stability of this nation and acknowledge the sacrifices made by our past heroes for the enthronement of this democracy that we are all enjoying now,” the Vice President stated, reinforcing the administration’s call for absolute civic solidarity. “What binds us together as a people far surpasses whatever criminal elements try to use to divide us.”

As the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, and the Inspector-General of Police continue to monitor the synchronized ground search-and-rescue loops, the presidency’s mosque brief serves as a high-level appeal for public patience. With the academic calendar severely threatened by ongoing labor strikes over campus safety, the federal cabinet is banking heavily on its updated, tech-driven intelligence architecture to smash the kidnapping networks, neutralize local collaborators, and safely restore the stolen learners and citizens to their families.