Oke ogun Development Consultative Forum (ODCF) has called on both Federal Government of Nigeria and Government of Benin Republic to respect the fundamental human rights of Sunday Adeyemo (aka Sunday Igboho) in the course of his being tried in the court of law.

The umbrella body for the people of Oke Ogun in Oyo State, in a statement on Sunday jointly signed by its President, Olusegun Ajuwon, and Public Relations Officer, Jare Ajayi, said his mission was meant to put a stop to the iniquities being meted out to Yoruba people – of which he is a proud son.

The embattled activist is from Igboho in Oorelope local government area of Oke-ogun.

“We are proud of his desire to see that farmers are no longer prevented from cultivating their farms and our women are no longer raped in the course of pursuing their businesses”, it stated.

It would be recalled that Adeyemo was the arrowhead of a movement tackling Fulani herders who were terrorizing farmers and rural dwellers, particularly in Ibarapa area of Oyo State and his group later began to agitate for the creation of a Yoruba nation. 

However, in the early hours of July 1, 2021, his house in Soka area of Ibadan was invaded by armed officials of the Department of State Security (DSS) resulting in the death of two people and arrest of 12 others who are still in detention in Abuja.

Adeyemo knowing that his life was unsafe, decided to sneak out of the country and was arrested in Cotonou while trying to board a flight to Germany. 

He has been on trial since then, with reports having it that Nigeria is making efforts to have him extradited so that he could be tried here.

ODCF said that while it concedes “that the government has a right, indeed the power, to try anybody deemed to have contravened the law, it should however factor in the relevant sections of the law that says that a suspect is innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction”. “Not only that, the governments of Nigeria and Benin should remember the relevant sections of the African Charter and other international conventions to which they are signatories.”

According to the group, part of what Igboho advocated was echoed penultimate week by Emir of Muri in Taraba state when he gave Fulani herders a 30-day ultimatum to vacate his area because of the harm they were doing to farmers and women in his domain. 

“There is no difference between what Igboho advocated and what Emir of Muri has done. Therefore, we believe that what is good for the goose should be good for the gander", ODCF stated.