By George Mgbeleke<\/p>\n
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned what it described as the Presidency’s desperate attempt to discredit Governor Seyi Makinde’s call for an independent international investigation into the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.<\/p>\n
Rather than vilifying Governor Makinde, the Federal Government should embrace transparency by inviting the United Nations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other internationally respected investigative bodies to independently examine every aspect of the horrifying 56-day captivity and the circumstances surrounding the rescue operation.<\/p>\n
If the Federal Government has nothing to hide, why is it uncomfortable with an independent investigation?<\/p>\n
If security agencies have given Nigerians the full story, why the hostility towards international scrutiny?<\/p>\n
Democracy thrives on accountability, not official propaganda.<\/p>\n
HURIWA finds it curious that instead of welcoming an opportunity to strengthen public confidence, presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga chose to attack Governor Makinde for demanding answers to questions that millions of Nigerians are already asking.<\/p>\n
These are not political questions. They are questions arising from a national tragedy.<\/p>\n
Where are the bodies of the terrorists reportedly neutralised during the operation?<\/p>\n
Where are the terrorists said to have been arrested?<\/p>\n
Who are these suspects and why have Nigerians not been given verifiable information about them?<\/p>\n
Why was a newly trained Army officer reportedly deployed to lead such a dangerous rescue operation when Nigeria has thousands of highly experienced combat officers?<\/p>\n
Who are the soldiers reportedly wounded, and under what circumstances were they injured?<\/p>\n
Why were traumatised children and teachers hurried before television cameras for public interviews instead of first receiving comprehensive psychological evaluation, trauma counselling and professional debriefing?<\/p>\n
Why did government officials appear more interested in public relations than in the emotional recovery of victims who had endured nearly two months in terrorist captivity?<\/p>\n
These are legitimate questions in any democratic society. They cannot be dismissed as politics.<\/p>\n
HURIWA fully supports Governor Seyi Makinde’s demand for an independent investigation because the incident raises issues that go beyond Oyo State. It touches directly on national security, institutional accountability and the constitutional duty of government to protect lives.<\/p>\n
The association rejects every attempt to portray calls for transparency as an attack on Nigeria’s sovereignty.<\/p>\n
Independent investigations are globally recognised mechanisms for establishing facts where public confidence has been shaken. Nigeria itself has welcomed international investigations in several instances involving human rights and security concerns. It would therefore amount to double standards to reject such scrutiny now.<\/p>\n
HURIWA insists that transparency should never frighten an innocent government.<\/p>\n
The Tinubu administration should immediately demonstrate confidence in its own narrative by formally inviting the United Nations, the FBI and other credible international investigative institutions to independently establish the facts surrounding the abduction, the prolonged captivity, the rescue operation and every institutional action taken before, during and after the incident.<\/p>\n
History will not remember those who silenced questions. It will remember those who pursued the truth.<\/p>\n
The children deserve the truth.<\/p>\n
Their families deserve the truth.<\/p>\n
Nigeria deserves the truth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By George Mgbeleke The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has condemned what it described as the Presidency’s desperate attempt to discredit Governor Seyi Makinde’s call for an independent international investigation into the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. Rather than vilifying Governor Makinde, the Federal Government […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15548,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15547\/revisions\/15548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}