A former Governor of Oyo State, Rashidi Ladoja, has cautioned the Buhari administration on the arrest of two prominent southern independence activists – Chief Sunday “Igboho” Adeyemo and Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu.
He advised the Federal Government to grant amnesty to Igboho and Kanu as it did to a number of Boko Haram insurgents that were also enlisted into some security agencies.
The ex-Oyo governor made the call in an interview with reporters at his residence, Ondo Street, Bodija, Ibadan, after he observed this year’s Eid el-Kabir prayer at the University of Ibadan on Tuesday.
The Osi Olubadan of Ibadanland noted that arresting Igboho and Kanu could not put an end to the agitation for self-determination across the country, saying the Federal Government created Kanu and Adeyemo as a result of failure to tackle insecurity in the southern region of the country.
‘I want to appeal to the Federal Government to grant Igboho and Kanu amnesty, just as some of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents, were given amnesty. Igboho and Kanu are the creation of the Federal Government. Why? Because whenever they arrested herdsmen, who were killing their people, Federal Government never act. That was why those two people came up to defend their people,’ he said.
‘Boko Haram members that were arrested a year ago by the government have been released to the Borno State Government. Federal Government created Sunday Igboho in the context of the Igangan massacre. People are agitating for what they believe in. They should be treated with care, and not as criminals.
‘Yoruba leaders, including the Alaafin of Oyo has been complaining about atrocities, committed by Fulani herdsmen without a response from the Federal Government. The order would come from above to release them and that is why people resolved into self-help. It is in this process that Igboho was created due to the killings that had been happening in the Ibarapa axis and nobody has been arrested and even if they were arrested, they will be released.
‘Arrest of Igboho will not change anything if the government failed to do the needful, many Igboho will be created. Just like Kanu has become an acclaimed leader, and to some people, Igboho has also become a leader. If caution is not taken by the Federal Government, the issue might boomerang, leading to many Igboho and Kanu,’ he stated.
