A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Yomi Aliyyu, who is the counsel for Yoruba nation activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, aka Igboho, has said there is nothing to show that the Federal Government is serious about using political solution to secure Igboho’s release.
Igboho, whose house was raided by operatives of the Department of State Services on July 1 was arrested on July 19 in Benin Republic while travelling to Germany together with his wife, Ropo.
The wife was released but Igboho has remained in detention in Benin Republic since then.
The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, had on November 11 during a press briefing, said the Federal Government would not rule out political solution to resolving separatist agitations in the country.
Speaking on Wednesday, Igboho’s lawyer said his client welcomed the offer and wrote a letter to the AGF about it, yet his client had yet to see anything to suggest that the Federal Government meant what Malami said.
Aliyyu said, “The Federal Government has not done anything to show that it is interested in political settlement of the matter notwithstanding the fact that we have accepted the move openly and vide a letter to the AGF demanding, inter alia, compliance with the judgment of the court.I think they want to test their stand with the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court, forgetting that any pronouncement by appellate courts that self-determination is a fundamental right will definitely open a pandora box of agitations that may not be contained by the Federal Government.This is good for agitators in South-West, South-East, Middle-Belt, South-South and all people demanding self- determination.In any case, federation connotes some regions coming together with right of ingress and egress. Positive pronouncements on self-determination will allow ethnic nationalities the right to renegotiate the 1914 amalgamation that majority of Nigerians now believe has outlived its usefulness.”
Asked if there is any hope that Igboho would be released before the end of the year, the lawyer said there was no such hope because of the stance of the DSS on the matter.
Recall that Justice Labiran Akintola of the Oyo State High Court had ruled in favour of Igboho in a case of enforcement of human rights filed by Aliyyu.
The court held that agitation for self-determination by Igboho was his right. The court also awarded N20bn damages against the DSS for invading his house.