Oyo's New Commission: A Call for Openness and Truth

Recently, Governor Seyi Makinde set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the kidnapping of schoolchildren and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area. The panel is led by retired Justice of the Court of Appeal, Professor Mojeed Owoade. It also includes respected figures like human rights lawyer Ayo Obe and democracy expert Professor Jibrin Ibrahim. I want to ask the people of Oyo State and all Nigerians to keep an open mind about this commission and share their experiences.

I make this request as someone who studies homeland security and has looked into mass abductions since the Chibok incident. I want to compare this situation with something Nigerians should think about. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States set up the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, or the 9/11 Commission. This commission faced a lot of controversy. Politicians did not want it, and some thought it would just cover things up. Still, grieving families pushed for it. What came out of it was a crucial public document that explained what happened, why things fell apart, and what needed to change. The 9/11 Commission Report did not bring back the dead. It did something else. It shared the truth publicly, changed failing systems, and taught a hurting nation how to stop future attacks and heal from any that happened. This is the standard for the Oriire commission.

Let’s look at what happened in Oriire. On May 15, armed men attacked three schools along the Ahoro-Esinele and Yawota areas. They took away pupils, some as young as two years old, along with their teachers. Nothing like this had ever happened in the South-West before. This mass abduction, which has been common in the North-East and North-West since Chibok, Kankara, and Jangebe, has now struck Yorubaland. The victims endured fifty-six days in the forest, exposed to rain and sun.

And two men did not return home. The terrorists killed two Christian teachers. Michael Oyedokun, the Mathematics teacher, was beheaded on the second day, and a video of his death was shared widely. A second teacher, a church deacon, was murdered on the first Sunday of June. The rescued principal has said the killings were planned, done by captors who knew the whole world was watching. I believe the choice of these two victims was not random. The murder of Christian teachers, staged for cameras, comes at a time when Washington is openly discussing the persecution of Christians in Nigeria. This looks like a message aimed beyond our borders, at the United States and its discussions on religious persecution in Nigeria. Whether this view is accurate is exactly the kind of question this commission is meant to answer with facts, under oath, on record.

This is why the commission is important, and why it deserves more than doubt. First, it is our tool for truth. Like the 9/11 Commission, its job is to find out what really happened: how the attackers planned, moved, and attacked; what warnings were missed; how the response was managed; and why it took 56 days for people to be freed. Transparency is key to this process. It is not just an added feature.

Second, it is our tool for prevention. The 9/11 Commission did not just tell a story; it improved intelligence sharing, border security, and emergency response. The Oriire commission has the same goal: to suggest changes in school safety, early warning systems, forest monitoring, and cooperation between agencies to prevent another Oriire incident in the South-West.

Third, it is our tool for recovery. We can't always stop terrorism. But communities that survive learn to respond and heal. The commission’s suggestions on helping victims, providing compensation, and building community strength will shape how Oyo State heals from this tragedy and how it will handle any future attacks.

I also want to give a warning, respectfully but clearly: Stop playing politics with our people's lives. Since the abduction, some people have claimed that the state government caused the incident, while others have dismissed all accountability efforts as mere politics. Children as young as two spent 56 days sleeping in the forest. Two teachers were killed. Anyone who turns this suffering into political weaponry dishonors the victims and hinders the truth. The right response to doubt, no matter where it comes from, is not louder propaganda. It is sworn testimony before a retired Justice of the Court of Appeal. Those with facts should bring evidence. Those with doubts should ask questions. The hearing room, not gossip, is the place for this.

Lastly, to readers in the United States and the global north: this commission is also your concern. Do not see Oriire as just another distant tragedy in Africa. Nigeria is the largest country on this continent. One in every five Africans is Nigerian. If terrorists can kill teachers and empty schools in the South-West, a region once thought to be safe, then Nigeria's instability is real. And a destabilized Nigeria means a destabilized Africa. Who pays when that happens? Who will pay for the migration waves that will be worse than anything we have seen in the Mediterranean? Who pays for rebuilding? Who pays for the wars that follow a state collapse, like what happened in Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya?

Taxpayers in Washington, London, Brussels, and Berlin will bear the costs of ignoring these issues, at a much higher price than it would take to pay attention now. That is why everyone, from the United Nations to Washington and Geneva, should keep an eye on this commission's work. Governor Makinde has called for international attention, and the UN has looked into Nigeria’s school kidnappings before, including the CEDAW inquiry after Chibok and the reactions to Kankara and Jangebe. A thorough, published commission report gives everyone a government document they can read and judge based on evidence: an early warning about Africa’s key nation. Paying attention now is the best security investment the global north can make.

The 9/11 Commission succeeded because the nation decided that truth was more important than blame. The world read its report because America’s stability mattered to everyone. Nigeria’s stability is just as important today. I urge the people of Oyo State, and all Nigerians, to approach this panel with open minds, to testify without fear, and to hold the commission to the highest standard. They deserve a fair chance to do their job. I also urge the global community to see this work not as a show, but as something that matters. The children of Esinele and Yawota, and the memory of the two murdered teachers, deserve nothing less.