Abuja – Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo also known as Sunday Igboho, has been arrested in Cotonou, Benin Republic, The PUNCH has said.
He was arrested at an airport in Cotonou on Monday night, a top source familiar with the matter told our correspondent.
Igboho was arrested by the security forces in Benin Republic about three weeks after the Department of State Services declared him wanted for allegedly stockpiling arms, an allegation he has since denied.
The source told The PUNCH that Igboho would be repatriated to Nigeria on Tuesday (today) from Benin Republic, one of Nigeria’s neighbouring countries in the West African sub region.
“He was arrested in Cotonou while he tried to travel out on Monday night. His destination was Germany. The security forces in Benin Republic should repatriate him to Nigeria on Tuesday,” the source said.
The Nigerian secret police had raided Igboho’s Ibadan residence in the Soka area on July 1, 2021, arrested about 12 of his aides and killed two of them in a gun duel.
The Federal Government of Nigeria had placed the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Nigeria Customs Service on alert to stop Igboho from leaving the country.
When contacted, a member of Igboho’s legal team, Pelumi Olajengbesi, said he would speak with the lead counsel, Yomi Aliyu (SAN), to verify the report.
DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, did not respond to a text message seeking confirmation on the matter. Afunanya at a briefing on July 1, 2021, had vowed that “Igboho may run as far as he can. He may hide as long as he wants…But this will be the end of his shenanigans.”
Precise Post recalls that the Federal Government had earlier said that the Yoruba Nation activist, was trying to acquire a new passport to flee the country.
It therefore placed Igboho on the stop-list in order to facilitate his arrest and directed the security agencies to apprehend him anywhere he is found.
In the security circle, a person whose name is on the stop-list is denied all constitutional rights and privileges a citizen is entitled to.
The Federal Government’s directive against Igboho was contained in a letter by the Nigeria Immigration Service dated July 9, 2021, addressed to the Director General, Department of State Services, the Inspector General of Police and the DG, National Intelligence Agency.
The activist, a spearhead of the separatist agitation for the Yoruba Nation, had been declared wanted by the Department of State Services on allegations of stockpiling arms to destabilise the country, which he has since denied, but his whereabouts remain unknown.
The whereabouts of Igboho, a lead figure in the separatist agitation for the Yoruba Nation, has been unknown since he narrowly escaped arrest during the July 1 midnight raid by the secret police, ahead of a major rally in support of the call for Yoruba Nation in Lagos.
Following the bloody raid on Igboho’s Sooka residence, the DSS arrested and detained 13 of Igboho’s associates, adding that during a “gun duel,” it had killed two of Igboho’s supporters later identified as Adogan and Alfa.
The International Criminal Court, on Tuesday, acknowledged a 27-page petition filed by Yoruba Nation agitators signed by the Leader of Ilana Omo Oodua, Emeritus Professor Banji Akintoye; Igboho; and 49 Yoruba self-determination groups.
