The Presidency on Monday knocked Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde over his call for a United Nations-led probe into the abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of the state, describing the demand as unnecessary and politically motivated.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the federal government had no objection to an international investigation if Makinde believed there were unresolved issues.
“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,” Onanuga said.
He, however, questioned the rationale behind the governor’s demand, arguing that no security agency would deliberately allow schoolchildren to remain in captivity for 56 days.
“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.
According to Onanuga, the rescue operation came at a heavy cost, with some security personnel, including soldiers and members of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Amotekun, losing their lives during efforts to rescue the victims.
He also noted that one of the abducted teachers was killed while in captivity, insisting it was “unthinkable” that anyone would deliberately orchestrate such an ordeal.
The presidential spokesman accused Makinde, whom he described as a presidential aspirant, of allowing politics to influence his position.
“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.
Onanuga further described the governor’s demand as “absolutely unnecessary,” accusing him of attempting to weaponise the incident 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 made the call earlier on Monday while receiving the 45 rescued pupils and teachers who were 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 subsequent rescue were grave enough to warrant independent international scrutiny.
“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,” he said.
Makinde maintained that his request was not intended to discredit Nigerian institutions but to strengthen public confidence through transparency and accountability.
He argued that Nigerians deserved a comprehensive account of the incident, including whether there were institutional failures, negligence or collusion, and the measures needed to prevent similar attacks on schools in the future.
“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 said.
