By Kamil Opeyemi
Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly called Sunday Igboho, has been freed by the Beninese authorities.
“I am now free to return to Nigeria and visit any country in the world. I have fulfilled all the legal conditions attached to my bail a few years back and I am coming home to Nigeria, my country of origin, any moment from now.
“I can confirm to you that I am now free to come back to Nigeria. There is no legal encumbrance again. Even though I have been living in Cotonou for some time, I can confirm to you categorically that I have now secured the liberty to leave Cotonou for Nigeria,” Adeyemo said in a video recorded of him where he expressed appreciation to many Nigerians for their support.
Among those he listed for appreciation are Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof Banji Akitoye and many others.
Igboho, who became more prominent after he spearheaded the campaign to oust Fulani herders from Igangan, in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo state.
He had accused the Fulani herders of constant killing of Yoruba farm owners.
His quit notice had sparked nationwide crisis with some Northern interests insisting their people could live in any part of the country.
He, however, fled Nigeria in July 2021 following a midnight invasion of his Ibadan home by the operatives of the Department of State Services.
During the attack, one his aides was killed while some of his belongings were destroyed.
The DSS claimed that seven AK-47 rifles, pump-action guns, and 5,000 rounds of ammunition, charms and other weapons were recovered from his apartment during the invasion.
The judgment was later set aside by the Court of Appeal in August 2022.
He was later arrested at the Cardinal Bernardin International Airport in Cotonou, Benin Republic while attempting to flee to Germany.
Attempts by the former President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to repatriate him to Nigeria were unsuccessful.