Prominent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, led a charged Democracy Day protest in Lagos on Friday, issuing a blistering ultimatum to the Federal Government over the worsening insecurity in the country.

Speaking at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Falana specifically demanded the immediate and unconditional rescue of dozens of school children recently abducted in Oyo and Borno States, warning that the nation is rapidly sliding into an “unconstitutional hostage crisis.”

The senior lawyer, accompanied by his son, musician Falz, and a coalition of civil society groups, described the condition of the captives as dire. He claimed that intelligence reports indicate the children are being held deep inside forest enclaves without access to food or medical attention.

“Those kids are suffering. They have been abandoned to faith. We are here to tell the government that enough is enough,” Falana declared to the cheering crowd.

Directly addressing the May 2026 attacks, Falana referenced the brutal beheading of a teacher during the Oyo State abduction and the mass kidnapping of students in Borno. He argued that the recurring incidents are a direct consequence of poverty and the government’s failure to deploy available resources for public safety. “Nigeria is not a poor country. We have the resources to end hunger and secure every school. The fact that we cannot protect our children is a failure of leadership, not a lack of capacity,” he stated.

Falana also used the platform to critique the current political structure, asserting that Nigeria is operating under “civil rule” rather than true democracy. He linked the security failures to the economic hardship facing millions of citizens, suggesting that a hungry population cannot effectively secure its environment. “All of us are in custody, one way or the other,” he said, implying that fear and poverty have turned the entire nation into a prison.

To resolve the crisis, Falana reiterated his recent proposal to President Bola Tinubu, urging the immediate authorization of specialized forest guards. He noted that while Oyo State has been allowed to recruit rangers to clear bandit hideouts, Borno requires a contingent of at least 1,000 forest guards to comb the vast terrain where the children are believed to be held.

The protest, held on the anniversary of the June 12 democratic election, ended with a march to the Lagos State Government House, where a formal letter of demand was submitted. As of press time, the Presidency had not issued an immediate response to Falana’s allegations, though security agencies confirmed they are monitoring the “operational challenges” in the affected forest regions.