Veteran journalist and former presidential spokesman Reuben Abati has defended Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s call for a United Nations investigation into the alleged kidnapping in Orire, Oyo State, citing precedents of similar international interventions in Nigeria.
Speaking on Arise Television’s Morning Show on Wednesday, Abati dismissed arguments that the UN has no role in such domestic matters. He referenced the Chibok and Kankara schoolgirl abductions, during which UN bodies set up committees to examine the incidents.
Abati noted that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) investigated the Chibok abduction, while the UN Committee on Human Rights looked into the Kankara incident. He described these actions as reflections of the international community’s concern for humanitarian crises.
The journalist, however, acknowledged that criticism often intensifies when domestic political issues are escalated to the international arena, which some view as politicisation.
Drawing from his experience in government under former President Goodluck Jonathan, Abati recalled the intense pressure the administration faced over insecurity from then-opposition figures.
He specifically mentioned that Lai Mohammed, who served as spokesperson for the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) at the time, had called for Jonathan to be prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the Baga killings. Abati also claimed that then-Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu publicly declared that the Jonathan administration had failed to address the country’s security challenges.
Abati stated: “When Baga happened, Alhaji Lai Mohammed writing for the ACN then… they gave me hell at the time. In fact, Lai Mohammed wrote specifically that President Goodluck Jonathan should be apprehended by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. President Tinubu, governor as he then was, also came out and said that the Jonathan government has failed.”
He added: “So, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. When they were outside the presidency, they said exactly the same thing. But what we’re saying is that human lives are more important than the petty politics or the presidential ambition of political gladiators.”
Abati’s comments come amid ongoing controversy surrounding Governor Makinde’s appeal to the United Nations over the Orire kidnapping incident.
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