By Alao Abiodun, Bisi Oladele and Segun Showunmi, Yinka Adeniran, Ibadan

There was anxiety yesterday in the camp of the  pro-Yoruba Nation agitators, following the arrest of its leader Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Igboho, in Cotonou, Benin Republic.

The activist, who evaded arrest by security agents, who stormed his Ibadan residence on July 1, went underground.

The Department of State Services (DSS) has kept mum over the arrest. Its spokesman, Dr. Peter Afunaya, did not respond to calls and messages last night.

Leader of Ilana Omo Oodua, Prof Banji Akintoye, who confirmed the arrest, said the group was mobilising Nigerians to prevent Igboho’s extradition to Nigeria.

Another member of the group, Prof Wale Adeniran, refuted the social media claim that Igboho had been released.

He said the false reports were injurious to Igboho’s struggle and welfare.

Confirming Igboho’s arrest, Akintoye said: “I received last night (Monday) the troubling information that Chief Sunday Adeyemo, fondly called Igboho had been arrested at the Cotonou Airport.

“I and other Yoruba Patriots who are immediately available are now working to provide the assistance necessary to ensure that nobody will be able to do to him anything unlawful or primitive and to prevent him from being extradited into Nigeria which is strongly possible.

“Fortunately, Benin Republic is reliably a land of law where the authorities responsibly obey the law. We have secured the services of a leading and highly respected lawyer who we can confidently rely on.

“What the situation now calls for is that the Yoruba nation at home and in Diapora must stand strong, resolved that neither Sunday Igboho nor any other Yoruba person will henceforth be subjected to inhuman or dehumanizing treatment of any kind.

Read Also: The ‘many sins’ of Sunday Igboho

He said: “We know that some people are trying to suppress or even eliminate him only because he stood up to defend his kinsmen, women and children who are being massively killed and raped  in their ancestral home Land; who are having their assets and means of livelihood destroyed, and who are facing ethnic cleansing and even genocide without having the benefit of protection by the rulers of their country.”

“We know, furthermore, that for the protection of his people who are being brutalized, he has joined hands with many of his brethren to take the legally-approriate step, namely to seek the intervention of the International Criminal Court”.

In a statement, Aliyu said: “It is a shocking news that Nigerian Government has gotten Chief Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a Sunday Igboho Oosa arrested by INTERPOL in Republic of Benin notwithstanding the political nature of his offense and what the DSS earlier said that they refrained from arresting him so as not to overheat the polity of Southwestern Nigeria.

“It is advisable for the INTERPOL and Benin Republic to be aware of the savagery acts committed in our clients house in the wee hours of 1st July, 2021 between 1.00am and 3.00am, shooting their way through and killing two people in the process and maliciously damaging his properties in the course of that illegal invasion.

All was quiet at the Soka, Ibadan residence of Igboho yesterday.

The expansive compound and the street looked deserted in spite of Sallah celebrations in the capital city.

When The Nation reporters visited, the usual security team comprising armed young men beside Igboho’s gate has been disbanded. Only one young man was sighted under the shed watching intently  movements around the house. The fierce-looking hoodlum was unarmed. The compound was locked as there was no movement in and out.

Neighbours also wore suspicious looks, casting prying eyes on strangers lurking around the street. None was willing to speak to reporters. But it was learnt that Igboho’s residence would have witnessed a beehive of activities for Sallah because he would have celebrated the festival and hosted guests from Southwest states.