The administration of President Bola Tinubu has been accused of continuing the crackdown on Yoruba Nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho—an effort said to have begun under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Igboho’s spokesperson, Olayomi Koiki, raised the allegations in an audio message sent to SaharaReporters on Monday. He claimed that Igboho remains on Nigeria’s wanted list and is unable to return to the country. Koiki also said his bank accounts and businesses remain frozen.
“It is unclear why the Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration has continued to witch-hunt Sunday Igboho. Till today, he is still on the wanted persons list,” Koiki said. “We asked that his bank accounts be reopened, and they refused—same for his companies.”
Koiki emphasized that Igboho’s only “offence” was speaking out against injustice in Yorubaland—issues he says are still unresolved. “When he travels internationally, he is not treated as a criminal. Only in Nigeria is he considered one. Even after a court ruled he should be compensated, nothing has been done,” he added.
Koiki also accused former President Buhari of attempting to have Igboho killed during a July 2021 raid on his residence in Ibadan by the Department of State Services (DSS). The DSS later claimed they found firearms at his home and declared him wanted.
Following the raid, Igboho fled to the Republic of Benin, where he was arrested and detained. He faced charges of arms trafficking, inciting violence, and advocating for Yoruba secession. He was eventually released in March 2022, prompting celebrations in Nigeria’s South-West.
In 2022, Igboho petitioned British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, asking the UK to recognize the Yoruba secessionist movement.
Yoruba historian and Oodua Nation advocate, Prof. Banji Akintoye, also accused the Nigerian government of attempting to coerce Igboho into abandoning his cause. He alleged that then-Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), acting as an envoy, offered Igboho billions of naira to renounce his activism—a proposal Igboho reportedly rejected.
