Oyo School Abduction: UN probe call not to diminish security efforts

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has said his call on the United Nations to investigate the May 15 abduction of school children and their teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of the state was not to diminish the efforts of security agencies.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 44 teachers and children kidnapped in three schools in Yawota and Ahoro-Esinele in Oriire LGA were released on July 10 after 56 days in captivity.

The kidnappers reportedly released the victims following heavy pressure mounted by operatives of security agencies including the Nigerian Army, Police, the State Security Service (SSS), and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Two teachers and some security officers lost their lives during the incident.

Speaking on Friday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, at the inauguration of an 8-man Judicial Conmission of Inquiry into the Abduction, Makinde said that accountability and reform restore public confidence and help prevent a recurrence.

He maintained that the call was about “ensuring that every lesson is learnt, and every question that deserves an answer is answered.”

“So it was for this reason that I called on the international community to support an independent examination of the circumstances surrounding the incident,” he said.

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Mr Makinde added that the government’s duty did not end with the victims’ rescue, “though rescue brings relief, truth brings closure.”

“This judicial commission of inquiry represents our commitment to that responsibility,” he said.

The governor explained that the commission’s assignment was to establish the facts, identify any institutional or operational lapses, and recommend measures that will strengthen the protection of schools and communities.

“And help to ensure that such a tragedy never happens again,” he said.

Mr Makinde had called on the United Nations and other international human rights and accountability bodies to examine the circumstances surrounding the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area.

He said while the victims had regained their freedom, the circumstances surrounding the incident were “sufficiently grave and unusual” to warrant an independent review.

Mr Makinde said the incident raised questions that require independent scrutiny beyond Nigeria’s domestic institutions.

He made the call in a statewide broadcast hours after the Nigerian military formally handed over the rescued pupils and teachers to the state government following their release after 56 days in captivity.

The Oyo State House of Assembly threw its weight behind Mr Makinde’s call for the independent international investigation into the abduction.

However, the Nigerian Senate rejected the governor’s request for foreign intervention in the matter, arguing that the incident was a domestic security matter that should be handled within Nigeria.

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At the inaguration of the judicial commission of inquiry on the abduction on Friday, Mr Makinde charged all members of the commission to bring their decades of experience, integrity, and public service to bear on the assignment before them.

He also advised them to let their work “be guided only by the evidence, the law, and the public interest.

“The people of our state, and indeed Nigerians, expect nothing less than an impartial, credible process,” he said.

The governor, who gave the commission four weeks to complete the assignment, urged members to feel free to come back to him if they require additional time to ensure that “no stone is left unturned.”

He promised to provide every support required for the commission to carry out its assignment independently and professionally.

Mr Makinde also called on individuals, institutions, and relevant agencies to cooperate fully by making available any information that would assist the commission in arriving at the truth.

Speaking with journalists shortly after the inauguration, the commission’s chairman, retired Justice Mojeed
Owoade, pledged that the commission would carry out the assignment with all sense of responsibility.

Mr Owoade added that transparency and diligence to uncover the truth would be the commission’s watchwords.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other members of the commission are Jubril Ibrahim, a professor; Mrs Ayo Obe; Ngozi Onadeko; Sanusi Muazu; a retired major general, Folorunso Osunrayi; and Olamide Tella as the commission’s secretary.

(NAN)