BY AKINWALE ABOLUWADE
Ilana Omo Oodua, umbrella body of the Yoruba self-determination groups, says the allegation of terrorism made against Sunday Adeyemo, a.k.a Sunday Igboho, is a fruitless attempt to discredit the struggle of the Yoruba people for a sovereign state.
The group, in a statement made available to journalists by its Communications Secretary, Maxwell Adeleye, said that the release, linking Ighoho with sponsorship of terrorism, was “empty, watery, cruel and irresponsible.”
It stated that “The Nigerian government is just chasing shadows and attempting to bully the struggle for self-determination of the Yoruba people out of relevance.
“Our preliminary position is that having been defeated legally and morally, the Fulani-controlled government of Nigeria is now chasing shadows, bullying the truth, and making an inconsistent attempt to tarnish a noble struggle of the Yoruba people.
“FG also accused an invincible lawmaker of sponsoring Ighoho and the struggle for self-determination in Yorubaland. The transactions between Ighoho and the federal lawmaker was dated back to 2013. That was hilarious and absolutely inconsistent. Was there a struggle for Self-determination In 2013?
“We are, however, glad that the Nigerian government is now displaying heavy shallowness and emptiness before the world while attempting to bully and tarnish a just and constitutional agenda that has been declared noble and legal by a court of competent jurisdiction which the government has not appealed against.
“To us in IOO, the accusations against Ighoho are ridiculous, cruel, petty, irresponsible and childish. The Nigerian government is now frustrated having lost the battle against the agitations for self-determination both in the courts of law and public opinion, hence, resorted to blackmail and media bully.
“The Yoruba people are anxiously waiting to know the invincible federal lawmaker accused by the Fulani-controlled Nigerian government of supporting Ighoho so that we can celebrate him or her as a true son or daughter of the soil for associating with a just and noble cause.”