•Olubadan, Sunday Igboho and Ooni
Arrangements have been perfected for the return of Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, from self-exile after four years, his spokesperson, Olayomi Koiki, has disclosed.
This was as pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, said yesterday that sabotage, complicity, territorial expansion, corruption and the cabal are responsible for banditry and kidnapping in the country, reports The Guardian.
The statement by Igboho’s aide explained that the activist’s planned return was a result of the intervention by prominent traditional rulers in the South-West, especially the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi; the Olugbon of Orile Igbon, Oba Francis Alao, among others.
It added that the Yoruba nation agitator might return to the country any moment and would be fully reintegrated after his clearance had been granted by the presidency.
Igboho had fled the country on July 1, 2021, following the invasion of his Ibadan residence by a combined team of the Department of State Security (DSS) and personnel of the Nigerian Army, over allegations of stockpiling arms and ammunition. During the incident, three of his aides were killed while 13 others were arrested.
However, the statement hinted that in 2025, Igboho, during a visit to the Olugbon palace, in Orile Igbon, located in Surulere Local Council of Oyo State, lamented that he was fed up with staying in exile, pleading with the President Bola Tinubu-led federal government to remove his name from the wanted list.
The statement issued noted that the immediate past administration of the late Muhammadu Buhari had declared the activist wanted, barring him from using a Nigerian passport, and freezing his bank accounts despite court judgments in his favour.
Meanwhile, a release issued by Afenifere National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, stated that efforts made over the years to stem various iniquities going on in Nigeria had been ineffectual “because powerful people among those who are to make the efforts to be fruitful are the very ones sabotaging such efforts”.
He said such tendencies were behind the repeated failure of various policies and efforts of the government.
“Be it on electricity, water, energy, education, agriculture, economy and now insecurity, the reason for the seeming failure of strategies of governments in these sectors is the corruption tendencies of some cabals in high places, who sabotage efforts meant to sanitise the system and enhance the well-being of the people.”
In recent times, kidnapping, cattle rustling, banditry bordering on genocide and territorial expansion have become rampant. These inhumane acts were confined to the North-East and North-West parts of Nigeria, but now they have spread to other parts.
Yorubaland, which used to be comparatively safe, has been infiltrated with many people already kidnapped and some dead.
The statement reads: “Afenifere, like many other well-meaning people, is highly concerned about this menace. At the best of times, an individual has to struggle to make ends meet. Now, the first consideration is safety, before one thinks of what to do to keep life going. This is why we, Afenifere, keep calling the attention of those concerned to the challenges with a view to finding a workable and an enduring solution to the problem.”
