Sunday Adeyemo, a fugitive and self-determination activist, has indicated his interest in returning to Nigeria barely two years that he fled the country.
Mr Adeyemo, aka ‘Sunday Igboho’, who spoke in a viral video, revealed that he would soon return to his country home of Oyo – Southwest Nigeria, saying no one would intimidate him any longer.
“I am coming back to Ibadan; I’m originally from Oyo State. I’m coming back home. So, Yorubas should not be afraid and nothing will happen; nobody can make the other person afraid,” he said in the video footage obtained by OsunDaily on Wednesday.
In July 2021, Mr Adeyemo, a campaigner for Yourba self-determination, was declared wanted by Nigeria’s secret police after his house located at Soka, Ibadan, was invaded by the SSS operatives at midnight.
The SSS had claimed that seven AK 47 rifles, pump action guns and 5,000 rounds of ammunition and other weapons were recovered from his apartment during the invasion.
The self-acclaimed activist, who fled the country to the Benin Republic, said the weapons were not his and that the security operatives planted ammunition in his house to implicate him.
He was later arrested at Cardinal Bernardin International Airport in Cotonou while trying to travel to Germany and was transferred to the Cotonou Criminal Brigade.
Following the raid, Mr Igboho sued the Nigerian government and demanded damages.
Speaking further in the viral video, Mr Adeyemo said his agitation for the ‘Yoruba nation’ was on course, noting that his demand from the Nigerian government was to allow the people of the Southwest to have their independence from Nigeria.
However, he added that the court had justified his struggle by clearing all charges and awarding him 20 billion to be paid by the Nigerian government over the ‘unlawful invasion’ of his apartment by the SSS.
“My agitation was in place and the question I asked the Nigerian government was in order, and the court has justified my demands. Also, the N20 billion Nigerian Government owes me will be paid,” the activist added.
In September 2021, the Oyo State High Court declared the raid conducted by the SSS on the residence of Mr Adeyemi in Ibadan as “illegal”, saying that the action was “arbitrary aggression and prejudices” against the activist.
The presiding judge, Ladiran Akintola, immediately ordered SSS to pay N20 billion to Igboho as exemplary and aggravated damages.
But in August 2022, the Ibadan Division of the Court of Appeal nullified the N20 billion exemplary and aggravated damages awarded against the SSS for the attack, describing it as outrageous.
Justice Muslim Hassan, in his judgement, held that the Oyo State High Court lacked jurisdiction on the matter.
He added that the judge should not have awarded damages based on his personal parameters
