Herders crisis: Sunday Igboho attacks Tinubu, Ooni, others

A controversial Yoruba activist and acclaimed warlord, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, on Tuesday, attacked some prominent leaders in the southwest region of the country.

Mr Igboho, who spoke during a virtual town hall meeting with the Yoruba in Diaspora on the security issues in the region, alleged that some leaders are sabotaging his efforts to secure the Yoruba land.

The meeting started around 11:15 p.m. and ended a few minutes after 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday, with over 1,000 participants from Nigeria and the diaspora.

Mr Igboho, who apologised for joining late at around 12:16 a.m., said he had a meeting earlier with the Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi, on his eviction notice on Fulani herdsmen.

In his speech, Mr Igboho described the Ooni of Ife, Enitan Ogunwusi; former governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu; Oyo state governor, Seyi Makinde; and Oluwo of Iwo, Abdulrasheed Akambi, as Fulani slaves.

He explained that his recent activities aimed at restoring peace and normalcy to Yorubaland without being sponsored by anybody.

“I am not scared of the police because my fight against herders is to secure our land and I believe that Yoruba people are supporting me. I pray that some Yoruba leaders will also support the cause when their fear is arrested.

“Yoruba leaders should be able to tell truths to President Muhammadu Buhari on security in Yoruba land. I don’t like what Ooni said when he visited Buhari and that’s one of the things I discussed with Alaafin earlier.”

“Ooni should not coin his words but boldly tell Buhari what the Yoruba wants. The monarch must have collected dollars. Ooni called me but I don’t want to see him. The only king truly supporting this struggle is Alaafin but Ooni disappointed me”.

He also condemned Mr Akanbi for calling himself an Emir.

“Yoruba leaders should call Oluwo to order, how can he be calling himself Emir? We just have leaders that are lazy and slaves to Fulanis. They visit Abuja to collect money, we will attack them and destroy their properties soon. Ooni should be dealt with because I am angry.”

“Also, Tinubu and other top politicians in Yorubaland are Fulani slaves. For me, I will not allow myself to be enslaved by Fulanis. They should leave our land. Makinde has also joined the slave train because of second term ambition,” he said in anger.

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Mr Igboho became notorious in the news late January following his ultimatum to herdsmen in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State to vacate the area.

When the ultimatum expired, he led some youth to the house of the Seriki Fulani in the area, where properties worth millions were destroyed.

The Seriki Fulani had since relocated to Kwara State with his family.

Mr Igboho, on Monday, also visited Ogun State to carry out an eviction of Fulani herdsmen in the state but the state government immediately spoke on the belief that he was invited by the government, highlighting that it did not do so.

Although there have been several reports of criminal activities carried out by herdsmen in the Southwest region of Nigeria, the country’s law does not give any citizen the right to expel other citizens or residents from wherever they chose to live or do business in the country.