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, Muhammadu Buhari 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.
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