Yoruba Nation agitator Sunday Adeyemo, better known as Sunday Igboho, has appealed to the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, to intervene with the federal government on his behalf, after years of being on Nigeria’s wanted list.
Speaking during a high-profile visit to the Ooni’s palace in Ile-Ife on Saturday, Igboho apologised for past verbal attacks against the monarch and asked for help in lifting restrictions on his bank accounts and his freedom of movement.
“I am still on the Federal Government wanted list, and I want you to help me clear my name,” Igboho said in Yoruba. “My account is frozen and I want you to assist me with that also. I want the embargo placed on my account to be lifted, and I know you are the one who can do it for me.”
The activist, who was declared wanted by the Department of State Services in July 2021 for allegedly stockpiling arms, had fled Nigeria after a violent raid on his Ibadan home. Since then, he has remained in exile, though his name continues to resonate in Yoruba nationalist circles.
During the meeting, Igboho sought to reframe himself as a defender of the south-west, pledging to help tackle banditry and kidnapping in the region’s forests. “We will flush out all those kidnappers. We have the capacity to protect our people,” he declared, insisting that Yoruba self-determination was inseparable from regional security.
His remarks drew on the Ooni’s recent security summit, which Igboho said he had joined virtually from Germany. “After the programme, I burst into tears because I was overwhelmed by emotions. At that moment, I knew you are Oodua’s reincarnate,” he told the monarch.
In his response, the Ooni of Ife accepted Igboho’s apology and promised to intervene. “Some of you have abused me in the past, but whenever I saw your posts, I just laughed them off,” the king said. “You are a brave man and our pride in Yorubaland … We are going to ensure that your name is removed from the wanted list.”
The monarch praised Igboho’s survival through his ordeals and stressed the need for unity. “What you are fighting for is not for you alone but for Yorubaland,” he said. “Let’s do away with fighting. It will not bring any good development to Yorubaland.”
The exchange marks Igboho’s most direct attempt yet to rehabilitate his image and regain a foothold in Nigeria’s political landscape. Whether the Tinubu administration will agree to ease restrictions on one of its most outspoken critics remains uncertain.
