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
