A popular Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo, better known as Sunday Igboho, has been ambushed by a combined team of security operatives who attempted to arrest him along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Friday.
It was learnt that Igboho was accosted by a joint team of policemen, the Department of State Services (DSS) and soldiers attached to Operation Burst along while on his way to Lagos to visit Chief Ayo Adebanjo, a Yoruba leader and an elder stateman.
Igboho’s media aide, Salami Oladapo, who confirmed the incident to SaharaReporters, said the attempt was made at exactly 2 pm on Friday in front of a Satguru Maharaj Ji Village, along the busy highway.
“They laid in ambush for him and blocked his car with two vehicles. They were heavily armed but he said they were too small for him to arrest.
“He has described the situation as worrying and sad, especially because he is fighting for Yoruba people and not a criminal. It happened at exactly 2 pm, right in front of Satguru Maharaj Ji Village along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
“He was going for a meeting he had with Yoruba elders in Lagos. He said ‘is it a sin to fight for Yoruba people? Is it a sin to fight for his people?”
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When asked if it took the intervention of the South-West governors or any prominent Yoruba person to abort the arres, Oladapo said that was not important at the time.
He said the important thing was that “Igboho is back in his house in Ibadan, safe and sound. He was not harmed in any way, I can tell you that,” he added.
Also, a former aviation minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, had also tweeted about the incident, condemning the attempt to ambush and arrest Igboho, saying it is not only reckless but also very dangerous.
“I just spoke to my brother Sunday Igboho. He told me there was a violent attempt to arrest him this afternoon by a joint team of soldiers, DSS operatives & policemen numbering about 40 on the Ibadan/Lagos Expressway whilst he was on his way to see Baba Ayo Adebanjo in Lagos.
“I condemn this attempt to ambush& abduct him. It is not only reckless but also very dangerous. If the security agencies want to see him all they need to do is to invite him to their office. I am not aware of any crime that he has committed & I urge restraint on all sides.
“Let me also send a warning to the FG that Sunday Igboho is a hero to millions of Yorubas & either killing him or detaining him unlawfully would be the biggest mistake they could make. Building bridges, dialogue& peace is better than violence & war. A word is enough for the wise,” he wrote.
ALSO READ: Governor Makinde Orders Arrest Of Sunday Igboho Over Fulani Quit Notice
In a video circulating on the social media, Igboho, who is topless, is seen with his men daring the security operatives to “do their worst” before they drove off.
Watch the video below:
https://twitter.com/realFFK/status/1365307515458772992?s=20
KanyiDaily recalls that Igboho had in January given Fulani herdsmen in Ibarapa area of Oyo State seven days ultimatum to vacate the area, blaming the leadership of the Fulani for being behind the rising insecurity in the state.
The Yoruba activist also visited Ogun State after soldiers allegedly escorted herdsmen to graze in some villages in the Yewa North Local Government Area of the state and brutalised some residents in defence of the herders.