A fresh war of words has erupted between the Presidency and Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde over the governor’s call for a United Nations-backed investigation into the abduction and rescue of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area, further intensifying the political debate surrounding the high-profile kidnapping.
Key Highlights:
- Presidency rejects Governor Seyi Makinde’s call for a UN-backed investigation into the Oriire school kidnapping.
- Bayo Onanuga says Nigeria’s security agencies have fully accounted for the rescue operation.
- Presidency insists there is nothing to hide and describes an international probe as unnecessary.
- Onanuga says military personnel and Amotekun operatives lost their lives during the rescue mission.
- Presidency accuses Makinde of politicising the incident and undermining Nigeria’s security institutions.
The Presidency, through the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed Governor Makinde’s request as unnecessary, insisting that Nigeria’s security agencies had already given a full account of the operation that led to the victims’ rescue after 56 days in captivity.
According to Onanuga, there is no reason to invite an international body to investigate the incident, stressing that the federal government has nothing to conceal.
“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 argued that no security agency would intentionally leave schoolchildren in captivity for nearly two months, describing such a suggestion as unreasonable.
“Look at those kids. Some of them are just about four or six years old. Will anyone want to deliberately subject them to the trauma they went through for 56 days?” he asked.
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The presidential spokesman also pointed to the sacrifices made during the rescue mission, revealing that members of the Nigerian military and the Oyo State Security Network Agency, Amotekun, lost their lives while working to secure the children’s freedom.
Onanuga further accused Governor Makinde of politicising the incident, suggesting that the governor’s recently declared presidential ambition may have influenced his call for an external investigation.
“It is just unfortunate that Mr. Makinde, maybe because of politics, because he is a presidential candidate now, doesn’t have any trust in our own institutions and is now calling on an external body to come and investigate,” he said.
He maintained that the governor’s demand was “unwarranted” and “absolutely unnecessary,” arguing that it unfairly questioned the credibility of Nigeria’s security institutions despite what he described as a successful rescue operation.
Governor Makinde had earlier called on the United Nations and international human rights organisations to independently investigate the May 15 abduction and subsequent rescue of 39 pupils and six teachers in Oriire Local Government Area.
The governor argued that the circumstances surrounding the incident raised critical questions that required an impartial international review beyond Nigeria’s domestic institutions, saying transparency and accountability were essential to restoring public confidence.
