Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has warned against arresting Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, saying it will heighten tension and insecurity in the South-West.
The Organising Secretary of Afenifere, Kole Omololu, gave the warning in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH.
Omololu was reacting to the attempt by a joint team of policemen and the Department of State Services to arrest Sunday Igboho along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday.
In a viral video, Igboho, who was not putting on any top, dared security operatives to “do their worst” before they drove off.
There had been reports that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, ordered the arrest of the rights activist after he issued an eviction notice to criminal herdsmen in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State.
Omololu, who condemned the latest attempt to arrest Sunday Igboho, warned that the pan-Yoruba group would resist attempts to conquer Yorubaland.
According to him, Igboho is fighting against killings in Yorubaland by criminal herdsmen and arresting him could make insecurity to rise.
He said, “I don’t know what Sunday Igboho has done that he deserved being harassed. What exactly has he done? What is his offence?
“What he has done so far is self-defence. Those who have committed a heinous crime are not being labelled, targeted.
“We should not continue to hype what is not. He is fighting against criminals and arresting him will make their (criminals) activities to rise. What they are trying to do is to silence Sunday Igboho so that hundreds of Sunday will not come out. They are turning Nigeria into something else, into a failed state. They want to conquer the Yoruba people at all cost. Should we say this is a Fulani government? Who are they acting on behalf – the oppressed Hausa, TiV or Igbo?
“This (attempt to rescue Igboho) can escalate tension. They have been trying this since 1962. At the slightest incidence, they hype it up in Yorubaland. They have been doing it. What happened in Ibadan before the state House of Assembly declared a state of emergency? Just a minor thing.
“This time around, I don’t think it is going to work. If you kill Sunday Igboho, 1,000 Sunday Igboho will rise up. They want to test the market with what they are doing, if nothing happens after Sunday Igboho, then they will continue. But I believe arresting Sunday Igboho is not good for Nigeria.”
The Punch