Sunday Igboho Fumes, Issues Two-hour Ultimatum To Fulani Leaders Over Abductions In Hometown

By Akanni Toba

Sunday Adeyemo, a youth leader popularly known as Igboho Oosa, has threatened to chase out the Fulani people living in his hometown of Igboho in the Oke-Ogun area of Oyo state if they fail to release the indigenes of the community allegedly abducted by their kinsmen.

Igboho, who was visibly angry, issued a two-hour ultimatum to Fulani elders to facilitate the release of the abducted people or risk mass exodus from the Igboho town.

Adeyemo issued the ultimatum on Saturday while addressing Fulani elders at the palace of the town’s monarch.

Speaking in Yoruba, he accused suspected Fulani kidnappers of carrying out a series of abductions in the area, including a recent incident in which a pregnant woman was reportedly killed.

“You cannot be kidnapping people in our fatherland while we fold our arms and do nothing. I am a son of the soil. This is my fatherland,” he said.

According to him, the latest incident involved the abduction of a woman, her children and her sibling, prompting widespread concern among residents.

Adeyemo alleged that the kidnappers initially demanded N300 million as ransom before reducing the amount to N150 million.

He said no ransom would be paid, insisting that the abductors release the victims within two hours.

“I am giving them two hours. They must return the woman, her children and sibling whom they kidnapped overnight. If I don’t see them within those two hours, we will clash,” he said.

He also threatened to invade a forest reserve where, according to him, the kidnappers are camped if the victims are not released.

“That forest reserve where they camp, we are coming there. We will invade that forest. Since they have said they won’t live with us in peace, we too will fight with everything we have,” Adeyemo said.

He urged Fulani leaders in the community to prevail on their children and ensure the release of the abducted persons, alleging that those responsible for the kidnappings were known within the area.

Explaining why it took him some time to intervene in the issue of kidnapping happening in his hometown and the entire Oke-Ogun region, Igboho stated that he was being wary of could be the likely reaction of the government.

He also noted that had initially been non-committal about the issue of abduction in his hometown and the entire Oke-Ogun region because he was wary of government’s likely reaction to his intervention in the crisis.

The youth leader also added that he had previously refrained from taking action because community elders had not formally lódged a complaint to him.

Adeyemo, however, stressed that the recent incident was the height of it adding that the perpetrators of the dastardly act have crossed a line.

The meeting was attended by the community’s traditional ruler, some chiefs and police officers from the divisional police command, while residents watched from outside the palace.

While specifically addressing police officers present at the meeting, Igboho warned the DPO not compromise on his duty by sacrificing the security of the community on the altar of monetary gain.

” I’ll beg the DPO to be extremely careful on this matter. Don’t be tempted to take sides with the Fulani people against the indigenes becuse of the monetary gifts from them. We won’t allow that here.”, he said.

Born in Igboho but raised largely in Osun State. Adeyemo’s fame was forged in the furnance of the Ife/Modakeke internecine war.

His reputation as an intrepid warrior rests largely on his purported exploits during the war when he supported the Modakeke side of the warring communities.

Igboho’s fame would later transcend the Southwest and spread across the country like a wildfire when he championed the secession of Yoruba nation from Nigeria following the attacks launched on residents of Igangan community in Oyo State by people believed to Fulani herdsmen during the reign of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Adeyemo became so vociferous in his demand for Yoruba nation that his action prompted military action from the Federal Government.

Igboho’s residence was later attacked by officials of the State Security Service leading to the deaths of some of his lieutenants.

The Yoruba nation crusader would leave the country on exile only to return after the expiration of Buhari’s tenure.

However, Igboho has been in the news recently following the mass abduction of teachers and schoolchildren in Orire Local Government of Oyo State on May 15.

On June 4, Adeyemo said Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo, knows he can rescue the abductees but has refused to give him the necessary backing.