Akintoye Confirms Arrest Of Sunday Igboho •Says Benin Republic May Reject His Extradition To Nigeria
Professor Banjo Akintoye, a renowned historian and leader of the Yoruba self-determination group, Ilana Omo Oodua, has confirmed the arrest of the Yoruba activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo (aka Sunday Igboho), in the Republic of Benin.
He made the confirmation in a statement by his Communications Manager, Maxwell Adeleye, noting that a request by the Nigerian authorities for the extradition of Igboho may, however, be turned down by their counterpart in the Republic of Benin.
Akintoye, who disclosed that some leading Nigerian lawyers are already in Benin, also said he, alongside other Yoruba patriots are currently working to provide assistance for Ighoho to prevent his extradition into Nigeria.
He said, “Benin Republic is a land that respect the rules of law” and called on all Yoruba people within and beyond the shores of Nigeria to come out and ensure that their ancestral land is not defeated by invaders.
“I received last night 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 whom 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 dehumanising treatment of any kind.
“We, the Yoruba Nation are, by the grace of God, a very strong nation. We must arise now to show that strength.
“For a start, we must all see to it now that Sunday Ighoho will get his freedom back so as to be able to move and operate as a free person. We all know he has committed no crime.
“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 brutalised, 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,” Akintoye said.
