The umbrella bodies of Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has revealed that South-West governors are “hiding” wanted Sunday Igboho from being arrested.
Recall that the Department of State Services (DSS) on July 1, 2021, raided Sunday Igboho’s Ibadan residence in Oyo State, detained 13 of his followers, and killed two of the activist’s associates in a “gun duel”.
Igboho, a spearhead of the separatist agitation for the Yoruba nation, escaped the bloody raid and was subsequently declared wanted by the secret police on allegations of stockpiling arms to destabilise the country, which he has since denied.
The whereabouts of the Yoruba nation agitator, who gained popularity in January, following his eviction notice to suspected killer herders in the Ibarapa area of Oyo State, had since been unknown.
But on Monday, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, alleged that South-West governors are “hiding” Sunday Igboho from being arrested by DSS.
A spokesman for the group, Saleh Alhassan, stated this in an exclusive interview with The Punch on Monday.
He said the DSS should have raided Igboho’s house earlier than it did.
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Alhassan, however, advised the activist to turn himself into security operatives because he would be forcefully apprehended.
He said, “It is in his (Igboho) own best interest if he submits himself peacefully so that he can face justice. Why is he running? Is he not a revolutionary? He should submit himself before they get him because as it is now, he has been declared wanted, he should present himself to the nearest police station.”
The group’s spokesman also alleged that the six governors in the South-West region are hiding Igboho.
He said, “All his (Igboho’s) actions are political; he is being used. His godfathers in the South-West should bring him out.
“The security agencies are speaking the language he understands, they will get him. I know the governors are hiding him but they (security agents) will get him.
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“The (Nigerian) State has declared him wanted. He is not more than the state. The governors keeping him should produce him.”
“He declared a republic; that was a rebellion. How can you be threatening the sovereignty of the (Nigerian) State and you still have the guts to be walking around and be organising rallies?” Alhassan queried.
However, Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Donald Ojogo, said it is belittling for the governors to respond to the allegation by Miyetti Allah.
Ojogo said that “It is not necessary, absolutely demeaning for elected governors to engage an association in a media banter.”
