Oriire Abduction: Now It’s Time To Count The Chicks

Growing up in Ijebu-Ode, my responsibility included joining other children in protecting respective family hens and their chicks from predators. A practical proverbial guide directed our efforts: one must first drive away the eagle before counting the chicks. This meant being prepared with stones and catapults to intervene when the hens became overwhelmed by an eagle circling above. If we were vigilant and prepared, the predator stood no chance.

The Oriire kidnap of children and teachers in Oyo State is on my mind. It was great that our security forces, as should be expected in a normal country, got involved and after 56 days rescued the victims. I join Nigerians in appreciating the stellar efforts of the security forces under the overall leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who ostensibly worked behind the scenes with the Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde. So far, Nigerians have been told that no ransom was paid, and no quid pro quo demands by the kidnappers were agreed to in exchange for the release of the victims unharmed.

There is so much that we should still push to know. It is time to now count the chicks. Some titbits of information are in the media. Claims that eight terrorists were captured alive as many were “unalived” using the pidgin rendition of killing, require substantiations. That the security forces rounded up family members of the terrorists in different states in Northern Nigeria and delivered a clear message of killing those family members in retaliation for any further deaths among the victims beyond the dastardly slaughter of Michael Oyedokun and the killing of another teacher on the day of the kidnap is interesting if true.

Governor Seyi Makinde’s call for further investigation into the roots of this crisis would be a welcome development if it did not reflect a significant departure from established diplomatic protocols. A subnational leader should ideally possess a fundamental understanding of the international system to appreciate the specific, limited role of the United Nations. Such a request appears misguided when viewed through the lens of international relations and the legal framework governing global interventions.

The United Nations Secretary-General: A Secretary, Not A General

It is possible that Governor Seyi Makinde allowed himself to be misled by the Yoruba translation of United Nations as: “Ijoba Agb’aiye,” literally World Government, and in which case, the UN Secretary-General as the President of the World. Nothing could be farther from reality than this. The UN is not a government. It has neither a police service nor a military force.

Though the Secretary-General occupies one of the principal organs of the UN system, in the words of the British Permanent Representative to Prof. Ibrahim Agboola Gambari and I, as we campaigned for General Olusegun Obasanjo to be the UN Secretary-General in 1991, the office is more for a Secretary and not a General. The power at the UN is more in the Security Council (if the veto system allows decisions), despite the General Assembly having the power of the purse. The Secretary-General, in the large part, is a secretary working for a union of member states.

His visibility as the everyday media representation of the will of the union or if you like association of member states does not make him the boss. Of course, in theory, he has power over the staff he appoints, when the strong countries are not strongly interested in countering him. He also has his “good offices role” with which he makes direct and indirect intervention pleas for peace, development, respect for human rights and humanitarianism around the world. He gets a lot of media visibility for these efforts.

The Sovereignty Barrier

The UN Secretariat and the associated agencies lack the power to engage with sub nationals except there’s an express Security Council resolution demanding involvement and/or the request for assistance by the national government involved. This is something those clamouring for the dismemberment of Nigeria never understood as they deceived Nigerians by claiming they had written to the UN requesting one censure or the other for Nigeria. Of course, some requests could be part of the many reports the UN issues annually, but without an express resolution that could bite, it is only at best, for academic masturbation and that is if any of the five Permanent Members of the Security Council did not cast a negative vote.

Of course, requests for all sorts of support, including material and knowledge sharing could be sought from the UN Secretariat and its Agencies and other international entities if deemed necessary, but not an investigation over kidnapping by terrorists. It was a significant and very important development for the South-West of Nigeria, more so with the beheading of a teacher and the killing of another and keeping 42 children and seven teachers in the forest for 56 days.

However, even more serious situations like a civil war would require care in not having the UN violate the sovereignty of a member state, however weak or comatose a situation such a state may be in. Investigation would require a Chapter 7 resolution by the Security Council. The general responsibility to protect cannot be invoked in a situation of this sort and not by way of an innocuous subnational statement of a Governor.

The Human Rights Council could have given Governor Makinde succour if the situation were more serious than what was faced in Oyo and PBAT has no objection to external intervention. If PBAT has an objection, the investigation team would not receive visas, although the report could be compiled from outside.

However, for such a report to mean much, it would require a Security Council intervention to exercise its power of imposing sanctions, provided the Nigerian government lacked any veto-wielding friend that would trade a veto for an interest that Nigeria could foster.

A More Prudent Path

It is now time to count the chicks. With the 49 Nigerians safely outside the den of the terrorists, Governor Makinde could have taken a more constructive lead by addressing his concerns/questions directly within the national framework. By organising internal pressures through the Governors Forum, credible Civil Society Organisations and investigative journalism, he could have sought clarity on the processes that led to the victims’ abduction and freedom. In my view, bypassing Nigeria in favor of an external appeal was a missed opportunity for a more statecraft-aligned approach. This development does not go beyond Nigerias capacity to handle. Therefore, it is still not too late to seek accountability as well as draw lessons for use elsewhere, especially in Northern Nigeria.

*Babafemi A. Badejo, the author of several books, including a best seller on Politics In Kenya as well as Why Peace Has Been Elusive In Somalia, was a former Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Somalia, and a former Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Chrisland University, Abeokuta. Currently a Legal Practitioner and Chairman of the national NBA Anti-Corruption Committee as well as a Consultant at Yintab Strategy Consults. He was the recipient of the 2025 Nelson Mandela Distinguished Africanist Award of the Africa Annual Conference at the University of Texas at Austin. He was in November 2025 decorated with Djibouti’s 27 Juin 1977, Order.