The Agbekoya Solidarity Movement has called for the immediate release of Yoruba freedom fighter, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho as they condemned his continued detention in a prison in Benin Republic.
On Thursday, members of the association took to the streets around Mapo Hall in Ibadan carrying placards boldly demanding the release of Igboho whom they claimed was fighting for their rights.
Addressing journalists, the leader of the group said Yoruba leaders can never go before Buhari to plead for the release of Igboho, noting that the agitator never committed any crime.
According to them, the demand for self-determination is constitutional and legal especially with the perceived oppression of Yoruba people by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government.
The group had approached the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, with a letter that contains the demands of the group.
They requested that the king present the letter to President Buhari on their behalf.
The leader of the group said, “We have come to present a letter to the king that we want to know Igboho’s crime, we will never go to beg Buhari. Rather than prostrate ourselves before a northerner, it is better to die. Igboho has not committed any crime, let Baba present this letter to Buhari because we know the Nigerian government is behind this case. Igboho before now used to trade with the Benin Republic.
“If Buhari’s government refuses to leave Igboho, they will face the wrath of Agbekoya. When we planned our rally initially, they said the police were coming to stop us but now, who came out? No one.
”We are, by this letter, calling for self-determination. We are the most educated people in Nigeria. We cannot allow one Hausa (Fulani) man to rule over us. Let us go back to the 1960 constitution else we sit and draft another. No one can be cheating the other, it is either we change this constitution or there will be no election in 2023. We will give it all it takes. We don’t have guns, cutlasses or any other but we have charms.
“They have released Boko Haram militants, Igboho has not done anything, he should be released. We are suffering and we are tired. Leave Sunday Igboho and let peace reign. We are telling Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu now, we used to be your friend but not anymore, release Sunday Igboho so that peace will reign and the most anticipated election will hold.”
Also speaking, the Public Relations Officer of the group, Olusegun said, “ We have come for a rally because of Igboho. We are pleading with the Federal government and all those who are behind this case, we know their names but we won’t mention them because we aren’t sycophants, they should release Igboho so this doesn’t backfire.
“Particularly, Yoruba land operates a very democratic system of government, we have the right to self-determination from this oppressive government. Igboho is a freedom fighter, he was not fighting for his own rights but the common man.
”We warn that if they ask the police to come after us, it will be very bad. We have simply come out to state what we want, we have killed no one neither have we destroyed properties but we have come out peacefully.
“We might have warriors but we will never shed blood and we all believe in God’s commandment that we should be obedient to the constituted authority.
”When we call for self-determination, we have not gone outside the law. There are countries all over the world that have separated from a major country though some of them involved bloodshed, we don’t want that and that’s why we have been peaceful whereas some of those countries have not experienced half of what we are experiencing now before they felt it was time for self-determination.
”There are laws that allow Yoruba people to call for self-determination and have sovereignty over their own land.”
