I’m still on the wanted list of the Federal Government despite the Presidency headed by President Tinubu
Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, on Wednesday reiterated that he remains on the Federal Government’s wanted list.
The activist used the opportunity to strongly criticize Naja’atu Mohammed, a former director in President Bola Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign Council, over her recent remarks claiming that Igboho was freely moving about despite being declared wanted by the authorities.
Sunday Igboho was declared wanted by the Department of State Services (DSS) on allegations of stockpiling arms and ammunition, charges he has consistently denied.
His inclusion on the government’s wanted list has been a source of controversy, especially given the ongoing tensions surrounding separatist movements in Nigeria.
Naja’atu Mohammed had recently expressed concern over what she described as an inconsistent approach by the Federal Government toward different separatist figures.
She questioned why there had been a relative silence and seeming leniency regarding Igboho’s activities, despite his status as a wanted man, while Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), remains in prolonged detention.
Additionally, Naja’atu accused President Tinubu of marginalizing the Northern region in governance, despite relying on its electoral support to secure victory in the 2023 general elections.
In response to these assertions, Sunday Igboho, through a personally signed statement in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State and sent to The Punch, dismissed Naja’atu’s claims as ignorant and reflective of a narrow, myopic perspective.
He insisted that her assertion about his freedom of movement was inaccurate and misleading, emphasizing that he remains a wanted man as declared by the Federal Government.
Igboho said, “I’m still on the wanted list of the Federal Government despite the Presidency headed by President Tinubu.”
Igboho described her claim as “unfounded and ridiculous, cautioning her to desist from dragging his name into propaganda and campaign of calumny aimed at rubbishing the government of Tinubu.”
The statement reads, “Currently, I’m using my German passport to travel in Europe and other continents and cannot enter the shores of Nigeria, having been declared wanted by security agencies under the leadership of former despotic President Muhammadu Buhari, who handed over a comatose economy to the present government. The order declaring me wanted still remains subsisting under the present government.
“What was my offence? Because I voiced my objection to the incessant killings of farmers, maiming and sexual violation of women perpetrated by herders against South-West communities, most especially in agrarian settlements during the inglorious regime of the immediate past President Buhari.
“It is on record that on July 1, 2021, a combined team of heavily armed personnel from the DSS and the Nigerian Army invaded my residence in Ibadan, with the intent to either arrest or assassinate me.
“At the end of the vicious attack, which lasted for hours, two of my people were shot dead while 13 others were arrested.
“Since Nigeria attained independence and the advent of democratic rule, out of 16 presidents who governed the nation, only two are from the Yoruba ethnic group- former President Olusegun Obasanjo and the incumbent President Tinubu.
“Where was Naja’atu Mohammed when Boko Haram terrorists and Fulani herders were wreaking havoc on Nigerians in the North and South-West through mindless killings during the administration of ex-President Buhari.
“During this period, an Islamic cleric, Abubakar Gumi, who was the negotiator between the Federal Government and terrorist groups, made millions of dollars.
“It’s because Tinubu’s government has resolved to tackle insurgency headlong rather than employing the service of the likes of Gumi which prompted spurious claims and mischievous propaganda by this woman. But she should desist from bringing my name into her diatribe.”
Igboho’s statement underscores the ongoing tensions and conflicting narratives around the handling of separatist agitation in Nigeria, highlighting divisions not only between activists and the government but also among political figures within the country.