Oyo School Abduction: Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim Says UN Cannot Investigate
The demand for an independent United Nations investigation into the Oriire school abduction has grown, with child protection groups saying international attention will help hold perpetrators to account and help to protect children from attacks on schools.
The renewed debate comes after Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim, reportedly stated that the UN has no mandate to investigate the abduction in Oriire, Oyo State, which he said was a domestic security issue.
But child rights activists refer to the UN’s long history of investigating attacks on school children in Nigeria. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) initiated an inquiry into Nigeria’s response to the abductions of school girls and women in the country in 2014.
In 2025, the committee found that grave and systematic violations of the rights of women and girls continued, including the lack of measures to prevent abductions, to rescue victims, and to hold perpetrators accountable.
The United Nations also responded to the 2020 Kankara school abduction and the 2021 Jangebe attack, calling on the Nigerian government to investigate the attacks, enhance the security of schools and offer rehabilitation and psychosocial support to the affected children.
Governor Seyi Makinde’s request is in line with international human rights mechanisms that have been established to investigate serious violations against children, supporters of an independent inquiry say. They say the reviews are not detrimental to Nigeria’s sovereignty, but rather serves to promote accountability and enhance child safeguarding practices.
The focus for child protection organisations is to ensure that all attacks on a school are fully investigated, survivors are supported long-term and that more robust safeguards are put in place to enable children to learn in safe and secure settings.
