Ilana Oodua speaks on why Sunday Igboho hasn’t been released from detention

By ADEDAYO BABATUNDE

The umbrella body of Yoruba Self-Determination Groups, Ilana Omo Oodua has revealed that the battle to get Yoruba freedom fighter, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, released from detention is delayed by the vacation embarked upon by judges in the Benin Republic.

The spokesperson of the group, Maxwell Adeleye who disclosed this on Tuesday explained that Igboho’s legal team led by Olusegun Falola has prepared “everything necessary” to guarantee his release, adding that the vacation by judges in the country delayed the activist’s release.

Recall that the Beninese Court had ordered that Sunday Igboho should be returned to prison custody when he appeared before the court on July 27.

Also, prosecutors were said to have raised fresh charges against the activist during the last sitting.

Sunday Igboho’s lawyers had said the Yoruba Nation agitator was remanded to allow police to conduct a thorough investigation into the charges, which included illegal migration, dubious connivance with immigration officers, and an attempt to cause civil unrest.

They explained that the previous allegations that warranted placing Igboho on a watchlist had successfully being tackled.

Some of the allegations, which he said could not be proved, are trafficking in arms, inciting violence that could result in social disturbance, and causing disunity in Nigeria.

But speaking to the Punch, Maxwell said that the judges would resume on September 15 from vacation.

“The judges are on vacation. They are expected to hear his case after the resumption and he should be freed. There was no vacation judge to hear the case. It is not like Nigeria where you have vacation judges,” he added.

Meanwhile, a diaspora pro-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Oodua Worldwide, asked the Federal Government to avert a looming danger by ensuring the freedom of Sunday Igboho, and his aides.

President of the Oodua Worldwide, Adewale Ojo, urged Yoruba traditional rulers and leaders, not to relent on efforts to get Igboho freed.

He explained that “prompt and unconditional release of Igboho is what can give a credible and unbiased face to a government that is now being seen by many as one with a mission to subdue other nations in Nigeria to favour one.”

He posited that “self-determination agitation is a fundamental human right that should not be met with stiff resistance as being demonstrated by the Nigerian government”.

“We are making this urgent demand that Igboho and his remaining aides in detention should be released immediately to avert a looming danger hovering around Nigeria if swift, urgent steps are not taken on the right track. We still can’t reconcile why known national tormentors, walk the streets of Nigeria unmolested while those on a popular struggle suddenly became objects of intimidation by our government

“We are appalled that the nation is fast degenerating and no one seems to care about what would become of a once fledgling country which seems to have lost its soul to petty politicking by those ordained to guide it to fruition.

“We maintain that the only way peace and tranquillity can reign in Nigeria is for government to restore hope that a new Nigeria is still a possibility. Anything to the contrary will pose a serious danger to the unity of our country, Nigeria,” Ojo stressed. (Daily Independent)