Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, yesterday declared that elections would no longer be allowed to hold in Yorubaland until the region became an independent nation while also explaining why the Governors in the region are not openly supporting their agitations.
The self-acclaimed activist, who spoke in Yoruba language at a Yoruba nation rally held at the Nelson Mandela Freedom Park in Osogbo, Osun State, also told his supporters to stop attacking governors in the South-West region, saying all of them were in support of efforts to get an independent Yoruba nation.
According to him, the South-West governors could not openly associate with the agitators. He added that the Federal Government might stop their monthly allocation if the governors declared open support for the cause.
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While calling for an immediate end to the prosecution of Oodua People’s Congress members, who arrested Isikilu Wakili in Igangan, Oyo State, the agitator condemned the killing of residents of Iseyin by Customs men, saying failure to prosecute criminal herdsmen had emboldened them to commit more atrocities in the region.
He said, ‘I can’t be cowed or intimidated. They said I would be arrested. Who would dare do that? We are no longer part of Nigeria. We won’t have anything to do with them again. There is no election again in Yorubaland until we have the Yoruba nation. Those in authority initially thought we were joking when we demanded an independent Yoruba nation.
‘All our governors are with us. From Oyo, Ogun, and Ondo to Ekiti, Lagos and Osun, they are supporting us, but they can’t do it openly. Allocation they give them in Abuja may stop if they do it openly. So, don’t abuse them again. Governor (Gboyega) Oyetola was informed I will be in Osun and he allowed us to come here. All our monarchs are with us.
‘We are also demanding an immediate end to the prosecution of OPC men that were arrested in Ibarapa land. That is part of the injustice we are talking about. They are still locked up. They didn’t commit any crime. They only stopped and arrested criminals. All the heads of the military, paramilitary and police are Fulani men. We won’t have anything to do with them again.’
Igboho insisted that the Yoruba people would no longer be part of Nigeria, saying lopsidedness in sharing leadership positions in the military and paramilitary, and high crime rate linked to Fulani herders across the region would not end until the Yoruba became an independent nation.
He also demanded immediate action by all stakeholders in the region to actualise an independent Yoruba nation, saying if they acted otherwise, the people would revolt against them.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK