Yoruba Nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Igboho, has returned to Nigeria about three years after fleeing the country for the Republic of Benin.
A statement by Igboho’s spokesman, Olayomi Koiki, confirmed that the Yoruba Nation activist was in the country for his mother’s burial which is scheduled to take place in Igboho and Ibadan.
In a video posted online, Mr Adeyemo was seen waving to residents of Igboho town as he entered the town for his mother’s final funeral rites.
His mother died while he was incarcerated in the Benin Republic in 2023.
CHIEF SUNDAY ADEYEMO IGBOHO OSHA YOU ARE WELCOME BACK.
WE LOVE YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
YORUBA NATION NO GOING BACK pic.twitter.com/KuSEOyz0Ka
— Yoruba Nation Now (@Yorubanationow) February 22, 2024
Congratulations to all Yoruba nationalists that stood firm on what they stand for and what they believed in. Sunday Igboho just got back to Oyo State today ahead of his mother's burial. pic.twitter.com/25RgwNGzWp
— Ààrẹ Ayọ̀dèjì (@omolisabi1) February 22, 2024
The Herald recalls that Sunday Igboho left Nigeria in 2021 following a bloody confrontation between his aides and DSS operatives who stormed his residence in the Soka area of Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
Sunday Igboho, who agitates for independence for the ethnic Yoruba people mostly in southwestern Nigeria, eloped to the Benin Republic after he was declared wanted by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The separatist leader was detained in Benin Republic in October 2021 while trying to fly to Germany.
The West African country had charged him with “associating with criminals”.
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He, however, regained his freedom recently after two years in a Beninese prison.
Two years ago, his lawyer, Ibrahim Salami, confirmed that Igboho had been given a conditional release for medical treatment but not allowed to leave the country.
Igboho had earlier thanked Benin President Patrice Talon and a former Nigerian president as well as Nobel prize winner Wole Soyinka for their support.