Rita Odafe
Sunday Adeyemo, known as Sunday Igboho, a prominent advocate for the Yoruba Nation, has leveled accusations against President Bola Tinubu.
Igboho claims that Tinubu continues the legal challenges he faced during the term of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
In an audio statement shared with SaharaReporters on Monday, Igboho’s spokesman, Olayemi Koiki, asserted that Tinubu’s administration is actively pursuing Igboho.
Koiki further alleged that the government has frozen Igboho’s bank accounts.
“The reasons behind the Tinubu administration’s ongoing pursuit of Sunday Igboho remain unclear. He is still listed among wanted individuals,” Koiki stated.
Koiki expressed concern that despite judicial decisions and Igboho’s release by authorities in Benin, the Nigerian government has yet to remove him from the wanted list.
He continued, “We have requested that his bank accounts be reinstated, but they have declined; the same applies to his businesses.”
“Sunday Igboho’s only ‘crime’ was opposing the injustices faced in Yorubaland, which continue to exist.”
According to Koiki, while Igboho is respected abroad, he continues to be branded a criminal in Nigeria.
“When he travels internationally, he is not viewed as a criminal, only in his homeland. Even after a court ordered compensation, he has yet to receive anything,” he remarked.
Koiki accused the former Buhari administration of attempting to eliminate Igboho during a controversial raid on his home in Ibadan in July 2021 by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The DSS claimed the raid was conducted based on reports that Igboho was amassing weapons. Although he managed to evade capture, the DSS subsequently issued a warrant for his arrest and claimed to have seized firearms from his residence.
After escaping to the Republic of Benin, Igboho was apprehended and held in custody. He faced charges in the Court d’Appel in Cotonou, including arms trafficking, incitement to violence, and advocating for secession from Nigeria.
His release by Beninese authorities in March 2022 was celebrated in various regions of the Southwest.
Renowned Yoruba historian and Oodua Nation supporter, Banji Akintoye, also accused the Nigerian government of trying to coerce Igboho into abandoning his cause while detained.
Akintoye claimed that the then Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), visited Igboho in prison as a special envoy, offering him a document along with substantial financial incentives in return for renouncing his fight for Yoruba independence.
“He declined to sign the document, and Buratai took it back with him,” Akintoye said.
In October 2022, Igboho allegedly reached out to then UK Labour Leader and current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, requesting the British government to support the Yoruba separatist movement in Nigeria.
Despite his release, Sunday Igboho has not returned to Nigeria, with his supporters maintaining that he remains unfairly targeted by the authorities.
