Sunday Igboho: Secrets, details of how the Yoruba Nation activist’s walk to freedom suffered setback

The travails of Sunday Igboho takes a turn for the worse as the FGN continues to play deaf and dumb to justice

True to their nature, the government of Muhammed Buhari has played its favourite part in the drama of injustice as they have turned a blind eye to another gross violation of basic human rights of another activist, Sunday Igboho. 

On the very wee hours of Monday morning, Nigerians woke to the sad news that the Yoruba Nation human rights activist, Sunday Igboho will not be coming home as expected, contrary to fans’ expectations which spread over the weekend.

Over the weekend, a popular human rights lawyer, Pelumi Olajengbesi, who was a prominent member of Sunday Igboho’s legal team, made a thrilling announcement, insisting that the activist will be released from prison and will be coming back home as soon as possible.

The announcement was received with gladness and jubilation in Sunday Igboho’s camp and fans have started a chain of reactions towards Sunday’s release and possible acquittance since no real charges have been made against him by the Nigerian government.

However, early Monday morning, 7th February 2022, contrary news had spread across the nation that the popular activist will not be coming home anytime soon and instead, will be spending another six months in jail for doing nothing but expressing his fundamental human rights to freedom of speech.

Fans and well meaning Nigerians have expressed their shock to this continued gross violation of the fundamental human rights of a man who has done nothing to deserve being stripped of his dignity and respect as a well-meaning Nigerian and lover of peace.

In a Facebook post over the weekend, barrister Pelumi had boasted about Igboho’s imminent freedom saying, “Chief Sunday Igboho will be out very soon and there will be massive jubilation across the entire Yoruba land. He is no doubt a courageous man. This is very authoritative just that our Yoruba leaders should stop being selfish and allow good to prevail.”

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And he was right. Nigerians had hoped that the Federal government of Nigeria would just do the right thing for once and acquit the man and not continue to play monkey politics with the fate and freedom of a man who was simply expressing his love for his people. But true to the nature of this government, a government that is clearly afraid of the truth, Sunday Igboho will not be coming home today, tomorrow, or anytime soon.

On Sunday night, when the counsel to Igboho, Chief Yomi Alliyu (SAN), disclosed that the Benin Republic government has renewed the incarceration without any hearing, it was sad news across the country.

He disclosed that “the government of the Republic of Benin has renewed the incarceration of Chief Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a Igboho Oosa for another six months even though there is no criminal charge in their file in Cotonou and without extradition request from Nigeria.”

How do you incarcerate a citizen endlessly without charging him to court?

How does a legally constituted, democratically elected government incarcerate an innocent citizen who was going about his business without filing criminal charges against him according to the constitutional demands?

It’s worrisome that the Nigerian government can play deaf and dumb to issues of human rights abuse perpetrated by its machinations while pretending to wage some form of war on terrorism.

These are some of the questions that well-meaning Nigerians are asking this morning as the news went viral that Igboho will not be coming home and instead, has been slammed with another 180 days in detention for no wrongful doing.

Who is Sunday Igboho?

Sunday Adeniyi Adeyemo was born on 10 October 1972 at Igboho town, Oke-Ogun, Oyo State, Nigeria. He is a human rights activist, politician, and philanthropist who is popularly known for his love for his people.

Sunday, who is 49 years old, is nicknamed after his hometown, Igboho.

Humble beginning

Mr. Igboho was born in a middle-class home in Oyo State. As a child, his family relocated to Osun State where he grew up.

Sunday had a very humble beginning; he grew up among the poor and the less privileged in the society and that is why he is so close to the grassroots and can fight for the poor and the masses today. The effect of his humble beginning is visible in everything he does.

Sunday started life as a bicycle repairer. He was dedicated and diligent in his work and soon progressed to repairing cars. Hard work paid off, and later in life, he was able to save money to start selling cars. It was that little business that eventually blossomed to become his current Adeson Enterprises.

Fame

Igboho’s fame is not an overnight success. In fact, he has been on the scene for more than 20 years. In 1997, Sunday gained international recognition in his role in the Modakeke/Ife war, where he was famous for defending the Modakeke people. He was the voice of the people in those days. He was very poplar and well respected for his strong and fearless opinions.  

It was after this time that he relocated to Ibadan, his ancestral home. It was said that Sunday’s luck came one day as he met the former governor of Oyo state while defending the rights of the people in a fuel station.

Since then, he never looked back as he eventually ventured into politics and became the most trusted aid of the former governor of Oyo State, then Rasheed Ladoja.

Mr. Igboho’s activism earned him the title, the Akoni Oodua of Yoruba land, because all his life, he has been known for fighting for the rights of the common man and now, he is fighting for the freedom of the Yoruba Nation.

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What does he want?

Sunday Igboho is an activist who is campaigning for the self-actualisation of the sovereign state of the Yoruba nation. He believes that the Yoruba Nation has the resources and the man-power to live and govern itself as an independent Nation.

The Yorubas dominate the South-Western part of Nigeria. They are made up of six states which are: Ekiti, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos, Ondo, and Osun state. About 45 million Yorubas live in Nigeria alone which takes up a 15.5% chunk from the total population of Nigeria.

The West are majorly educated people. They take education seriously. It’s said that three out of five Yorubas are educated up to the tertiary education level.

Also, they are vastly travelled and there are even Yoruba territories in most developed countries of the world such as in South America and in England where most of them migrated during the education quest of the first and second republic of Nigeria.

Again, the Yorubas are industrious people. They captain some of the biggest industries in the country. A quick look at the list of the top ten richest people in Nigeria throws up names like Mike Adenuga whose net worth is estimated around $6.3 billion, Femi Otedeola who is north of $2 billion, and Jimoh Ibrahim who is worth more than $1.2 billion as of 2021.

Sunday Igboho, therefore, believes that the Yorubas have both the human and economic resources to be a self-governed, independent nation.

How did it all start?

The fight for the self-actualisation of the Yoruba Nation did not just emerge out of nothing. It all began with the herdsmen’s attack and senseless rampage of the means of livelihood of the Yoruba people of South-Western Nigeria.

The Fulani herdsmen, for a long time, had invaded the green vegetation of the South West. And when their roaming cattle depleted the green fields, they invaded the farms and ate up the crops.

The people could not take it any longer and they cried out to the government. But they got nothing but a weak reply from their leaders whom they had voted into power to represent and defend them in times of this nature.

Left with no option, they had to take arms and whatever weapons they could find and try to defend themselves and their farms. What happened was a few months of bloodletting, murder, massacre, kidnapping, and absolute mayhem that astounded even the most hardened of the hearts.

Yet, the federal government of Nigeria, under the leadership of Muhammed Buhari and the APC, played deaf, dumb, and crippled. They watched as the Fulani herdsmen turned the once peaceful South West into a war zone.

They made the West a forbidden place and travelers and citizens alike were afraid to step out of the houses or go to the market or visit the farms. People were kidnapped every day, killed, maimed and nothing was done about it. Women were raped and killed and their homes looted. Then, one day, the nation was shocked as a doctor who was visiting his homeland, Dr. Aborode, was killed in cold blood by those heartless villains.

It was at this point that Egbon Sunday Igboho and a few others said, enough is enough; if the government cannot protect them, they would have to protect themselves. He rose and defended the people. He did not just do this in words like the government, he did it in action.

As if to follow his cue, the Yoruba elders, traditional and political leaders formed a paramilitary outfit which was christened the Amotekun. It was mainly a vigilante group saddled with the responsibility to protect the various communities from herdsmen attacks. They carried all sorts of weapons, from guns to cutlasses. It was also rumoured that they wore all sorts of charms for further protection, in case the guns failed them.

In January 2021, in the heat of the whole mess, the Yoruba leaders and Mr. Igboho gave the Fulani herdsmen who had forcefully settled in Ibarapa an ultimatum to vacate the land. They went ahead to enforce the same ultimatum and drove the armed bandits/herdsmen out of Yoruba land with whatever arms they could find.

And that was how the quest for self-actualisation of a free Yoruba Nation began. In his defense, there was no reason to be a part of a government that cannot protect or defend you in times of need. A government whose actions and words convince you day after day that it is directly in support of those who wish you dead such as the herdsmen and armed bandits.

Sunday Igboho was declared wanted

As expected, the federal government of Muhammed Buhari did not take it lightly; they felt threatened and gave orders for Mr. Igboho’s arrest. The government security agencies tried to arrest him many times but he often outsmarted them as they had no legal reason to issue warrants. One of those occasions, they accosted Sunday along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

On Friday, 26th of February, 2021, a team of policemen, soldiers, and Department of State Services, DSS, known as operation Burst, accosted Mr. Igboho along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in a crude attempt to arrest the activist. Sunday was on his way to visit a Yoruba chieftain, Baba Ayo Adebanjo in Lagos when he was accosted. But when Sunday and his security and legal team resisted the violent attempt to arrest him, the operation Burst let them go.

Later, the DSS denied any attempt to arrest him. However, they bided their time, planned a better operation and waited their time to strike.

On the 1st of July, 2021, a joint team of security operatives stormed Igboho’s residence at Soka, Ibadan, Oyo State. They claimed they were acting based on an intelligence tipoff that he had a stockpile of arms in his house.

According to official reports, there was a bloody gun battle between the DSS and Sunday Igboho’s security guards. The duel was said to have lasted for more than an hour during which two of Igboho’s men were gunned down and died instantly, whereas an operative was shot and injured on the arm and therefore hospitalised. Thirteen other persons were found within the premises and taken away for questioning in Abuja by the DSS.

The details of the raid were contained in a report filed by the DSS and released to the public on Thursday night of July 1st, 2021.

The statement reads, ‘In the early hours (about 0134) of today, 1st July 2021, a joint team of security operatives raided the residence of Sunday Adeniyi Adeyemo a.k.a. Sunday Igboho at Sak, Ibadan, Oyo State. This was based on intelligence that he had stockpiled arms in the place. On approach to the residence, the team came under heavy gun attack by nine (9) men, suspected to be Igboho’s guards, six of them were armed with AK-47 guns and three (3) others, with pump-action rifles.

“In the course of exchange, two (2) of Igboho’s armed men were gunned down while the rest were subdued and arrested. Only one operative who was shot by the assailants on his right-hand sustained injury. He has, however, received medical attention and is stable.

“Afterwards, the team procedurally searched the house and subsequently recovered the following: seven 7 AK-47 assault rifles, three pump action guns, 30 fully charged AK-47 magazines, 5,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, five cutlasses, one jackknife, and one pen knife.

“Other items recovered included two pistol holsters, one binocular, a wallet containing five thousand US dollars, local and international driver’s licenses in his name, ATM Cards, a German residence permit No. YO2N6K1NY bearing his name; two whistles and 50 cartridges.

“Other items were 18 walkie-talkies, three voodoo charm jackets/traditional body armour, two laptops and his international passport, and those of many others.”

Meanwhile, Sunday Igboho was nowhere to be found. Some sources said that he might have found a way to escape during the gun duel between his men and the men of the DSS. While others said that Sunday Igboho has mystical powers which helped him ‘disappear’ during the bloody raid. But whatever happened, the federal government was not satisfied nor happy with the outcome, since the mission was to arrest the activist.

Consequently, on the morning of the following day, 2nd of July, the federal government had declared Sunday Igboho a fugitive; a wanted criminal who should be reported and apprehended at sight. The DSS, in the same statement, vowed to hunt Igboho down like an animal and apprehend him come what may.

He said, “The gun duel which lasted for an hour offered IGBOHO the chance to escape. Sunday ADEYEMO a.k.a Sunday IGBOHO is now on the run. IGBOHO may run as far as he can. He may hide as long as he wants.

“He might have attacked security operatives as his strength carried him. But this will be the end of his shenanigans. Soon, he will not have a hiding place. His strength will sure fail him. And the law will catch up with him.

“The law may be slow. But it will be steady.”

Sunday Igboho’s arrest

True to their words, on the 19th of July, barely three weeks of the raid in which Igboho was declared wanted, the DSS made real their treats. Sunday was arrested by the Republican Police in Cotonou while traveling to Germany.

According to a Benin local newspaper, Banouto, Mr. Igboho was arrested at the Cardinal Bernardin International Airport in Cotonou en route to Germany.

Banouto reports that Igboho was “disembarked from his plane, arrested by the Beninese police while he was trying to travel to Germany and then transferred to the Cotonou Criminal Brigade.”

However, this was following the same fashion in which Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra was arrested in Kenya while visiting the East African country.

It is obvious, in many ways, that the federal government’s attempt to squash the voice of the voiceless in the country reaches far and beyond and they have determined to use that same power to detain, dehumanise, and destroy Sunday Igboho.

In the same vein, Kanu was arrested, detained, and eventually extradited to Nigeria to be further incarcerated without reasonably justifiable cause, we fear, in truth, that Sunday Igboho might be facing the same fate. If it were not the case, why has the federal government refused to charge him to court, and at the same time, detained him without justifiable cause?

Sunday Igboho’s incarceration

Igboho has been in detention in Benin Republic since he was arrested in July 2021.

The 49-year-old has since spent over 200 days in detention in Benin Republic prison.

However, a Beninese court had blocked the extradition move of Igboho to Nigeria while ruling that the activist be remanded in prison pending further hearing.

The fate of the Titan

Sunday Igboho’s fate hangs in the balance as the erratic government of Muhammed Buhari continues to play monkey games with his life. As news of his continued detention spread this morning, it is becoming clearer to anyone wondering what is wrong with this government what their line of thought is; everyone who is not in their camp is clearly against them.

And to everyone who is following this story and others like it, residual knowledge will tell us that this government is not just paranoid, but they are clearly in the business of hiding their desperation to cover their paranoia by arresting and detaining anyone who raises a voice against them in the guise of treasonable felony.

And just like Nnamdi Kanu, whether Egbon Sunday Igboho will also be slammed with the title of felon or arms dealer, only time will tell.