A former Aviation Minister Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has condemned in strong terms the attack on Sunday Igboho’s home.
WITHIN NIGERIA recalls that gunmen, alleged to be in Military uniforms attacked the Oyo residence of the self-acclaimed Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Igboho in the early hours of Thursday.
The invasion resulted in death of two persons and loss of valuable properties.
He also confirmed a cash loss of two million naira and the destruction of some valuable properties in his home.
Reacting to the attack, FFK, a close ally to Chief Sunday Igboho, condemned the invasion warning those involved not to turn southwest to the theatre of war.
Fani-Kayode in a post on his social media handle narrated what happened in Igboho’s home.
He wrote, “The havoc done at Chief Sunday Adeyemo’s (Sunday Igboho’s) home at 1.30 am this morning by soldiers and security agents where they surround the house, laid siege on the occupants and then attacked. Two people were killed and their bodies were taken away whilst a large number of others were arrested.
“Sunday Igboho’s passport and travel documents were stolen together with his phones, his personal effects, computers and the sum of two million naira.”
“There were about 100 soldiers and security agents involved and Sunday managed to escape after his boys shielded him from the bullets.
“They insisted that he should leave whilst they resisted the attack as best as they could and with few numbers.
“My question is this: what has this man done to deserve this? There is nothing he has been asked to do in terms of keeping the peace in the South West by the Federal Government and the Yoruba elders that he has not done including guaranteeing the security and safety of the local Hausa Fulani population, building bridges, keeping the peace and having a dialogue with other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.
“Whilst others were attacking innocent Hausa Fulanis in the South West Sunday was protecting them.
“He has also shown the greatest respect to all the Yoruba elders, traditional rulers and leaders and has refused to allow his supporters to terrorise and attack non-Yorubas.
“The only enemies he and the Yoruba people have are the foreign Fulani terrorists that are in our forests and that are kidnapping and killing our people.
“And whether Sunday is alive or dead those terrorists will still be our enemies and we shall still resist them in our land with all our might.
“I consider all this and I ask myself whether all those that said we were wasting our time building bridges were right. Despite all I do not believe they were right and I still believe we must tread that path. These efforts at establishing peace and unity will and must continue because we have no other choice. War is not an option for the Nigerian people and we must NEVER be pushed into it.
“Sunday is the living manifestation of Oduduwa himself and he speaks the mind of over 70 million Yorubas throughout the world. Whoever is trying to kill him is making a big mistake and is pulling the tail of a wild lion and poking the eye of a sleeping giant.
“For the sake of Nigerian peace and unity and in the name of God, I call on the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari himself to leave Sunday and his group alone and to tread the path of peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and understanding.
“That is the only way to avoid a major conflict which may eventually degenerate into a civil war.
“Sunday comes in peace and the entire leadership of the South West can guarantee this. It serves only the purpose of the jingoists and the warmongers on both sides of the divide to kill or arrest him.
If he is wanted by the security agents all they need to do is to invite him. They do not need to raid his home in the middle of the night, killing his people, steal his things, terrorise his supporters and attempt to kill him.
They do not need to invoke the wrath of the Yoruba nation and attempt to manage the consequences of such a reckless and unpredictable course.
Whether we are separatists or integrationists, Nigeria is dear to us all.
“Let her not be turned into a theatre of war by manipulative foreign forces and diabolical interest groups that seek to utterly destroy and decimate each and every one of us regardless of tribe or faith. May God guide us and may He preserve the peace of our nation,” He wrote.