Sunday Igboho

  Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, widely known as Sunday Igboho, has threatened to expose politicians he claims are responsible for the abduction of students in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. The activist said this while speaking to the new executive members of the National Association of Nigerian Students led by Akinteye Bàbàtunde at his residence in the Soka area of Ibadan on Wednesday. In the now-trending video captured by Wisdom TV, Igboho asserted that he had personally volunteered to dislodge the bandits but was met with defiance by the state government. He also claimed that he had never demanded any money from the Seyi Makinde-led administration to rescue the 47 abductees. “If I am permitted to burst into the hideouts, they will flee. They are neither gnomes nor mannequins; they are humans, so that they could be dislodged. I know the politicians behind them, and if they do not stop perpetrating their evil acts, I will mention them all. I know them. The politicians behind them are the ones giving them ammunition and money. “The same thing they did to Jonathan is what they are doing to Tinubu. They want to make the country ungovernable for him. They even have fake news propaganda to scare the masses and divert supporters away from the President. Suppose the recent abduction is not a game. In Oyo, they made away with children. I volunteered to go, but the state government said ‘No.’” “Later, they (Oyo government) informed me that the kidnappers said if I try to force myself to come rescue the children, they will kill them all. If they are serious about rescuing the victims, they should tell my boys and me to chase them out of the forests in our regions and see if those people will remain there even with their bombs and sophisticated weapons,” he said. The Oyo-based activist further maintained that after he got approval from the Federal Government for his security network christened “Iru Ekun”, the Oyo State Government warned him from operating and that any attempt by him to rescue the children might lead to their death. “After I arranged ‘Iru Ekun’ security network, the Federal Government permitted me, but the state government said no security must take a step behind them. Do we have to wait for him to flood the forests to rescue these children? I’m just concerned about these abductees; nobody can kidnap me, not even my family, because they are spread across Canada and Germany. Why should I fret? “Despite how bad Buhari’s administration is, he completed his tenure. Why are they trying to stop a Yoruba man — Tinubu — from completing his? It was Tinubu who freed me when I was in exile. Why should I tackle him? And why are they trying to ruin his government? Igboho queried. Recall that on May 15, no fewer than 45 pupils were reportedly abducted during the Friday attack on three schools in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State. The schools attacked were Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Esiele; and L.A. Primary School. Sunday PUNCH gathered that tension is rising in the state following the incident. Security agencies are also said to have surrounded the possible escape routes of the assailants after they fled into a nearby forest reserve bordering Oriire communities and the Old Oyo National Park axis. A teacher at Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota, Elizabeth Olagoke, told one of our correspondents that the kidnappers spoke Yoruba, Hausa, and Pidgin English. After a few days, one of the abducted teachers, Michael Oyedokun, was gruesomely killed. Oyedokun was beheaded in a new video allegedly released by bandits on Sunday. The video obtained by our correspondent on Telegram on Monday showed that the teacher was gruesomely killed after being tied and forced to speak. This development led Igboho to seek approval to launch his security outfit, “Iru Ekun Security Network,” as part of efforts to dislodge criminal elements from the South-West forests. He also expressed his readiness to comply with the Executive Order recently issued by the Oyo State Government, under the leadership of Governor Seyi Makinde, to regulate the activities of private security firms in the state.