President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has faulted Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, over his call for a United Nations-led investigation into the abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area, describing the request as unnecessary and politically driven.
The Presidency insisted that Nigerian security agencies had already given a full account of the rescue operation and dismissed suggestions that an external investigation was needed.
Makinde made the appeal while taking responsibility for the welfare, rehabilitation and education of the 45 pupils and teachers rescued after spending 56 days in captivity.
The victims were abducted on May 15, 2026, when gunmen attacked three schools in the Yawota and Ahoro-Esinle communities of Oriire Local Government Area.
Reacting to the Governor’s position, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the request reflected a lack of confidence in Nigeria’s security institutions.
Speaking with The PUNCH on Tuesday, Onanuga said the Federal Government had no objection to a UN investigation if Makinde believed there were unanswered questions.
“The Governor has just 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,” he said.
The presidential spokesman, however, questioned the rationale behind the Governor’s demand, insisting there was no reason for security agencies to deliberately allow Nigerian children to remain in the hands of kidnappers for nearly two months.
He added that soldiers and operatives of the Oyo State Security Network Agency, codenamed Amotekun, reportedly lost their lives during efforts to rescue the victims.
Onanuga also dismissed as inconceivable any suggestion that government officials deliberately exposed the abducted pupils and teachers to such an ordeal.
“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.
He noted that one of the teachers was killed by the kidnappers while the victims were still in captivity.
According to Onanuga, the military and the Department of State Services had already made public all the information available regarding the abduction and rescue operation.
He described Makinde’s demand for a UN investigation as “unwarranted” and “absolutely unnecessary.”
The presidential aide further accused the Oyo Governor of allowing politics to shape his response to the incident.
“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,” Onanuga said.
He also accused the Governor of attempting to exploit the abduction for political purposes.
“The man is just playing politics, and it is the politics of the bizarre. He wants to weaponise anything available, including dredging up a strange conspiracy theory,” he added.
Makinde had earlier urged the United Nations and other international human rights and accountability organisations to independently investigate the circumstances surrounding the abduction and rescue of the pupils and teachers.
The Governor made the call after the rescued victims were handed over by the Federal Government and arrived at the Oyo State Secretariat.
“The circumstances surrounding this incident are sufficiently grave and unusual to warrant independent scrutiny beyond our domestic institution,” Makinde said.
“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 maintained that his request was not intended to discredit Nigeria’s institutions but to promote accountability and rebuild public confidence.
