The month-long nightmare for the families of St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, finally ended on Sunday, December 21, 2025. The final batch of 130 students and teachers, abducted during a violent midnight raid on November 21, were officially declared free by the Federal Government.
But as images of the weary children arriving in Minna flooded social media, a single post from Paul Ibe turned the conversation from relief to suspicion.
The Allegation of “State Capture”
Responding to a celebratory post by President Tinubu’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, Ibe did not mince words. He suggested that the entire abduction and subsequent “military-led” recovery bore the hallmarks of a staged event.
“Bayo Onanuga @aonanuga1956, the way you are announcing the release… as if the whole kidnap thing is an arrangee. With the Bola Tinubu administration, nothing is impossible. #StateCapture,” Ibe wrote on X.
The term “Arrangee”—Nigerian slang for a staged or fraudulent setup—immediately went viral, triggering a wave of both support from government critics and outrage from those who saw it as an insult to the traumatized children.
The Official Narrative vs. The Skeptics
The Federal Government maintains that the rescue was a “military intelligence-driven operation” coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
- The Timeline: 315 people were originally taken. 50 escaped early on, 100 were freed on December 8, and the final 130 were recovered this past weekend.
- The Victory: Minister of Information Mohammed Idris called it a “fitting end to the year,” emphasizing that not a single pupil was left behind.
However, skeptics like Ibe point to the lack of details regarding the “bandits” involved. No arrests were announced, and no firefights were reported during the “rescue” of such a large group, leading to persistent rumors—denied by the government—that a massive ransom was paid or that the incident was politically managed.
A Christmas Reunion Under a Cloud
Despite the political bickering, the human reality remains. On Monday, Governor Mohammed Bago received the children at the Government House in Minna. Visibly emotional, the Governor thanked President Tinubu for his “decisive action,” while medical teams began the process of treating the children for the trauma of their 30-day ordeal in the forest.
For the parents in Papiri, the politics matter little. Their children are home for Christmas. But for the rest of Nigeria, the “arrangee” allegation has left a lingering question: Is the security situation truly improving, or is the nation watching a carefully scripted drama?
