13th October, 2024
By Taiwo Okanlawon
Yoruba Nation agitator Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho has submitted a petition to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, to consider the creation of a Yoruba nation.
Igboho was said to have submitted the petition on behalf of Prof. Adebanji Akintoye, the leader of the Yoruba Nation movement.
The movement is seeking the immediate intervention of the UK Prime Minister and his government in their agitation to set up a country that will be predominantly owned by indigenous Yoruba people.
This was disclosed by Igboho’s spokesman, Koiki, via his X page on Monday.
He wrote: “At exactly 14:00 hrs Dr. Chief Sunday Igboho delivered a petition to the UK Prime Minister on behalf of Prof. Adebanji Akintoye, leader of the YORUBA NATION movement, and Olayomi Koiki, his spokesman @10DowningStreet.”
Igboho has been at the forefront of the actualization of a Yoruba nation.
Recall that Akintoye had earlier accused the Nigerian government of trying to cajole Igboho into withdrawing from the agitations.
The octogenarian said during the agitator’s travails in Benin Republic, a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (retd.), had used his influence as an envoy to sneak a paper to Igboho in prison, promising him billions of naira if only he would renounce his agitations for a Yoruba nation.
He, however, said Igboho refused to sign the paper, which was later taken away by Buratai.
He said: “Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, came to him in the prison, promising him billions of naira if he would just sign a paper that Buratai brought.
“That he (Igboho) should say he had renounced the Yoruba Nation struggle, that he didn’t want the Yoruba Nation struggle anymore, that he had opted out of it.”
Igboho was arrested, along with his wife on July 20, 2021, in Cotonou, while trying to travel to Germany at Cardinal Bernardin International Airport.
After some legal battles, he was granted bail instead of being repatriated to Nigeria.
The bail condition effectively kept him in Cotonou, Benin.
In a video released on Facebook, Igboho thanked all those who had supported him during his travail and detention in Benin.
He specifically mentioned Yoruba monarchs, activists such as Professor Banji Akintoye and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, for their support while he stayed in Cotonou.