The British police arrested
Adeyinka Grandson, president of the Young Yorubas for Freedom (YYF)
secessionist group, in London over his social media posts against some ethnic
groups in Nigeria.
Grandson, a UK-based Nigerian of
Yoruba descent, is known for his social media attacks on people of Igbo
extraction as well as criticism of the Hausa-Fulani.
On Tuesday, the Scotland Yard
Counter Terrorism Command arrested Grandson for allegedly “stirring racial
discrimination” against the Igbo and Fulani ethnic groups and also “encouraging
terrorism”.
After being grilled for nine
hours, Grandson denied any involvement in terrorism or encouraging racial
hatred and said YYF only supports the return of Nigeria to the regional system.
He was granted bail on the
evening of his arrest while his passport, two Google phones, one Apple MacBook
laptop computer, one tablet, a hard drive, and a draft copy of his new book
were seized.
Among the conditions for his bail
include are: he must sleep and live at his home address only and can’t access,
use, or post on Facebook, Youtube, Tumblr, or the website linked to the YYF.
He was asked to return to the
police on September 2 for further investigation.
In a statement, Tinuola Asake,
YYF director of communications, said Grandson resigned from his job due to the
seriousness of the allegations against him and is prepared to face legal battle
if the need arises.
“Adeyinka Grandson has not been
charged for any crime. He is required to report back to the police station on
the second of September 2019. The Young Yorubas Forum has no idea what the
police plan to do with the allegations of terrorism and public order acts,” the
statement read.
He was reported to have recently
called for secession with respect to the Yoruba race and threatened the north
with the use of chemical weapons if the south-west is attacked under any guise.
The YYF, which Grandson heads, is
a youth organisation established to “appeal to the consciousness of young
Yorubas and support a return to the regional system of government or outright
dissolution of Nigeria in favour of the Oduduwa Republic.”
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His arrest is a gross violation of his fundamental rights. The guy was only using the media for sentiment and he has facts to back up his claims. Whatever he has been saying about Hausa/Fulani and/or Igbo had been said of the Yoruba by some other people of Hausa and Igbo ethnic origin only that the Hausa Fulani would not want a break up of Nigeria because Nigeria as is today favor them more than any other ethnic group in Nigeria
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