Pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, has given reasons for the interventions of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and Olubadan, Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji, in Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho’s matter.
Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, had been declared wanted by Nigeria’s security outfit, Department of State Services, and he is currently detained in the Benin Republic.
The activist’s lawyers have applied for asylum on his behalf but the Benin Republic government has yet to respond.
Amid Igboho’s travails, the Ooni of Ife set up a committee and sent a delegation to the Benin Republic alongside Olubadan to observe one of the court proceedings on Igboho’s case.
The Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, also tacitly confirmed that Yoruba leaders are working “behind the scene” on Sunday Igboho’s matter.
Before Sanwo-Olu’s comment, Southern governors had asked DSS to inform them before carrying out major operations in the states. This was a few days after Igboho’s house was raided by DSS leading to the loss of lives.
On Saturday, the Special Assistant on Media to Obasanjo, Kehinde Akinyemi, confirmed that Nigerian ex-President, Olusegun Obasanjo, met with the President of the Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon, in the first week of August.
Akinyemi said “Obasanjo was in Benin Republic on Monday and he met with the President but nobody knew what they discussed,”
Reacting, Organising Secretary of Afenifere, Apogun Kola Omololu, commended the Yoruba leaders for their intervention.
He said the Yoruba leaders intervened because they do not believe that Igboho will get just if extradited to Nigeria from Benin Republic.
Omololu said, “Obasanjo is a Yoruba man first before becoming a president. Yoruba leaders are not noisemakers, they don’t make noise, they act. Look at the way we fought the NADECO battle, it was intellectually coordinated. Obasanjo won’t want Yorubaland to be disgraced. We all know that Federal Government is after the Yoruba nation, not Igboho. Obafemi Awolowo tried his best but was rolled into prison. MKO Abiola was killed. We want a bigger Nigeria that is working. It is restructuring or Yoruba Nation. Ooni and Olubadan are Yoruba men before they are Nigerians. They have to look after their children. They will not allow Sunday to be extradited. This government is lawless, they believe in brutality, not legality. Igboho is a social crusader, not a terrorist. He is protecting his people after the government failed and he didn’t kill anyone throughout his agitation. He is after the criminals. Why is the government defending the criminals? Sunday should be treated as a hero. Obasanjo and the monarchs have shown that they are full-blooded Yoruba persons. We applaud Baba Obasanjo. God will continue to raise the Yoruba Nation up. We are peace-loving. If the Yoruba Nation is peaceful, every part of Nigeria will benefit from it. Nobody is now safe in Yorubaland, If they have the chance, they can attack Obasanjo too. This administration has divided Nigeria so much. We are praying that this administration should end soon. This government has destroyed so many things. Federal Government should be considerate now by the efforts of the Yoruba leaders. Obasanjo is the father of Africa and he must be respected”