Yoruba Nation arrowhead, Prof Banji Akintoye, has threatened that there won’t be governorship election in Osun and Ekiti States in 2022.
The Independent National Electoral Commission is set to hold governorship elections in the two South-West states as the second term of Governor Kayode Fayemi (Ekiti) and the first tenure of Governor Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), end in October and November this year respectively.
But 86-year-old Akintoye said in his 2022 New Year Message on Friday that no election would hold in the two states.
He said, “Among most Yoruba self-determination advocates worldwide, the determination exists and is growing that there shall be no State Governorship and House of Assembly election in our homeland in 2022. The next election that we Yoruba people will engage in will be the first election in our own new country.”
The professor of History had been seen at rallies with Yoruba Nation campaigner, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, demanding the secession of the South-West geopolitical zone from the Nigerian State.
He, however, left Nigeria for Benin Republic mid-2021 after he got wind that the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) plotted his arrest. The leader of the self-determination group had since said he was not afraid of the Buhari regime but that he was in Cotonou to facilitate the release of Igboho, who has been detained in the neighbouring francophone West African country since July 19, 2021.
In his New Year message, Akintoye expressed optimism that Igboho would soon regain freedom and the Yoruba Nation dream would come to a realisation.
He said, “I am confident that our Yoruba nation state is close at hand. Therefore, let us embark on thinking of the things we will need to do to make our new Yoruba country the most wonderful place to live in the world. Also, let us embark on thinking of the things we need to do to make our nation a friend and helper to all its neighbours.”
Continuing, Akintoye said, “The Yoruba self determination struggle will employ the powers of the law more emphatically to resist the abuses of human rights in our Yoruba homeland. Instances have increased dramatically of Human Rights abuses committed against our people. The most serious of such abuses occurred against Chief Sunday Adeyemo and the residents of his home in Ibadan. Others occurred against our people who are carrying out a peaceful rally in Lagos.
“In Ekiti State, one Yoruba citizen was arrested for no clear reason at the time of the attack on Sunday Adeyemo’s house and he was locked in custody for months. In fact, he could have died in detention. From the beginning of 2022, we are going to take serious actions against all cases of Human Right abuse against our people. The Yoruba nation must prepare itself now for such Human Rights initiatives.”
“In conclusion, I am sure that all Yoruba people everywhere are expecting me to make a statement about our dear hero Chief Sunday Adeyemo. How I wish I could announce now that he has been released. Unfortunately, we are not blessed with that wonderful news today. But I join all Yoruba patriots everywhere in the fervent hope that he will soon be released,” he added.
Back story
On July 1, 2021, around 2am, the Department of State Services stormed the Ibadan residence of Igboho in a Gestapo style, killing two of his associates and arresting 12 others. The luxury cars and the house of the agitator in the Soka area of Oyo State were also riddled with bullets.
The DSS subsequently declared Igboho wanted for allegedly stockpiling arms to destabilise Nigeria under the pretext of secessionist agitation, an allegation he had since denied.
After about three weeks underground, Igboho found his way to Cotonou and planned to escape to Germany through an Air France Cotonou-Paris-Hamburg flight but the trip was botched as the Interpol at the airport arrested him and his German-citizen wife, Ropo.
The Interpol at the airport had arrested the duo at the behest of the Nigerian Government.
The Beninise Government subsequently arraigned the agitator before the Cour De’appal De Cotonou on migration-related offences and for gunrunning but the court on July 27, 2021, ordered that Ropo be released while Igboho be remanded in prison till further notice.
The court has not opened the case since then and all efforts by Igboho’s lawyers both in Nigeria and Benin Republic have not yielded in his release as the Buhari regime’s representatives in the French country led by Nigerian Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), continued to push for the extradition of the agitator. (Punch)
