Oyo Assembly Backs Makinde’s Call for UN Probe on Abduction

The Oyo State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, reaffirmed its support for Governor Seyi Makinde’s call for an independent international investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abduction of schoolchildren and their teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of the state.

It maintained that an international probe remains necessary to establish the facts surrounding the mass abduction, strengthen Nigeria’s security architecture and help prevent similar attacks on schools across the country.

The House, in a statement from the Office of the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin, in Ibadan, the state capital, congratulated the government and the people of the state on the successful rescue of the pupils and teachers abducted by terrorists in the local government.

It said, “Mass abduction of schoolchildren has become a disturbing pattern in Nigeria. If our collective efforts as a country have not been sufficient to end this menace, it is only appropriate to invite the relevant agency of the United Nations to investigate the unusual circumstances surrounding the Oyo State case and make recommendations that will help prevent a recurrence. Enough is enough.”

The PUNCH reports that Makinde had, in a broadcast after receiving the rescued victims in his office in Ibadan, on Monday, said that the circumstances surrounding the incident were sufficiently grave and unusual to warrant independent scrutiny while he called on the United Nations and the International Human Rights Organisations to carry out an investigation.

Also, the governor had, on Friday, said in Bauchi State that the attacks on Ahoro-Esiele and Yawota were carried out by those who were opposed to his presidential ambition in 2027.

However, the House, in its statement, on Tuesday, also reacted to the Senate’s…