The Presidency has dismissed Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s call for a United Nations-led investigation into the abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area, describing the demand as unnecessary and politically motivated.
Speaking in an interview on Monday, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the Federal Government had no objection to an international investigation if the governor believed there were unresolved issues surrounding the incident.
“The governor has expressed his opinion that the UN should probe this incident. Our doors are open. Let the UN come if he thinks there is more to it than what our military has explained,” Onanuga said.
He, however, questioned the basis of the governor’s request, arguing that no security agency would deliberately allow schoolchildren to remain in captivity for 56 days.
According to Onanuga, the rescue operation came at a heavy cost, with soldiers and personnel of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, losing their lives while trying to secure the victims’ release.
He added that one of the abducted teachers was killed in captivity, describing suggestions that the ordeal was orchestrated as “unthinkable.”
The presidential spokesman accused Makinde, whom he described as a presidential aspirant, of allowing politics to shape his position.
“It is unfortunate that Mr Makinde, perhaps because of politics and his presidential ambition, has no confidence in our institutions and is calling on an external body to investigate,” he said.
Onanuga further described the governor’s demand as “absolutely unnecessary,” accusing him of attempting to politicise the incident.
Earlier on Monday, Makinde called for an independent international investigation while receiving the 45 rescued pupils and teachers formally handed over to the Oyo State Government by the Federal Government after spending 56 days in captivity.
The governor said the circumstances surrounding the abduction and rescue warranted independent scrutiny to strengthen transparency and public confidence.
“I therefore, with a full sense of responsibility as the Executive Governor of Oyo State, call on the appropriate international human rights and accountability mechanisms, including those within the United Nations system, to closely examine the facts surrounding this abduction and the circumstances of its resolution,” Makinde said.
He maintained that the request was not intended to discredit Nigerian institutions but to establish the facts, identify any institutional failures, negligence or collusion, and help prevent similar attacks on schools.
“This is not about politics. It is about justice for the victims, reassurance for our people, and restoring public confidence that every Nigerian child can go to school without fear,” the governor added.
