The Yoruba nation activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, fondly called Sunday Igboho, has been released from prison custody in Cotonou in Benin Republic on health grounds, eight months after his arrest.
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, and the leader of the apex Yoruba self-determination group, Ilana Omo Oodua (IOO), Prof. Banji Akintoye, were said to have played significant roles in the efforts that led to Igboho’s freedom.
Daily Sun was reliably informed that Igboho was released to a team of medical experts with conditions that he must stay within Cotonou to access medicare. This probably settled the speculations that he may have travelled outside the country, particularly Germany for treatment.
Lead counsel to Igboho, Chief Yomi Alliyu (SAN) confirmed the news to Daily Sun.
Igboho was arrested in July 2021 at an airport in Cotonou on his way to Germany. He had escaped to Benin Republic from Nigeria after his house was raided by security forces led by the Department of State Services (DSS) on July 1, 2021, during which two persons were killed by the security operatives and 12 other persons in his house were arrested and taken to Abuja for prosecution.
Efforts to confirm the release of Adeyemo from the Nigerian Ambassador to Benin Republic, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai (retd) was not successful as his mobile line was powered off when Daily Sun called at exactly 7:44pm. A message sent to him at 7:47pm on WhatsApp was yet to deliver as at the time of filing this report.
But speaking with Daily Sun, the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Benin, Aurélien Agbénonci, said he was far away in Paris and cannot confirm the release of Igboho.
Meanwhile, Afenifere has described the release as a victory for personal liberty, self determination.It said it is not just a victory for Igboho and the Yoruba but a victory for Nigerians as a whole.
Afenifere, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary Jare Ajayi said: “Sunday Adeyemo Igboho’s release is not just for him and the Yoruba people. It is a victory indicator for all those who believe in personal liberty and the right of a given people to self determination”, the organisation said.
It commended the efforts of Ilano Omo Oodua and its leader, Prof. Akintoyo and Yoruba Obas in Nigeria and in the Benin Republic as well as the team of lawyers handling his cases in Nigeria and in Benin for their efforts in securing Igboho’s release.
He noted that Afenifere and indeed Yoruba people as a whole rejoiced with Igboho on his release after months of incarceration.
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