Last Saturday’s invasion of the Oyo state House of Assembly and the Government Secretariat by suspected Yoruba nation agitators has been widely condemned. In this report, TOPE SUNDAY asks if the move was right in the first place.
The agitation by some sections of the country to secede from Nigeria is not new, and according to reports, it started in 1966 to correct the reported mistakes of 1914; and the recent attempt by a group of 18 masked people, dressed in army camouflage, armed with rifles, charms and Oodua Nation flags, to take over the Oyo state House of Assembly and Government Secretariat to proclaim the emergence of a Yoruba Nation has thrown the nation into a panic mood.
The genesis
According to reports, in February 1966, an Ijaw ethnic minority rights activist, Isaac Adaka Boro, formed a group known as the Niger Delta Volunteer Force and declared the formation of a Niger Delta Republic. He and his group fought the Nigerian Forces for 12 days before they were overwhelmed, arrested, tried for treason and thrown into jail.
This was the first major rebellion against the Nigerian state. The same year, following the Unification Decree No 34 of the Aguiyi Ironsi military government, the people of Northern Nigeria were so dissatisfied with the turn of events in Nigeria that they openly talked about “Araba” – meaning “let us separate.”
In January 1966, there was a military coup which resulted in the death of Northern leaders and others, notably Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa; Sir Ahmadu Bello, Northern Region premier; Chief Ladoke Akintola, premier of the Western Region; and Festus Okotie-Eboh, minister of Finance.
Also, between 1967 and 1970 Nigerian Civil War occurred when the breakaway republic of Biafra declared its independence from Nigeria and was eventually defeated, and up to date, the South-east region is still agitating for secession.
Blueprint Weekend recalls that the agitation for the creation of the Oduduwa Republic started in Lagos on July 27, 2017. The move was announced by the coalition group known as Yoruba Liberation Command (YOLICOM) during the World Press Conference day held at the International Press Centre, Ogba, Lagos state.
But in 2021, Chief Sunday Igboho, who was the face of the agitation before last Saturday’s invasion in Ibadan, had in a video that trended on social media, threatened to go after politicians of Yoruba extraction who are already campaigning ahead of the 2023 general elections, and he intensified efforts at achieving a Yoruba nation and in the process, his house was invaded and he subsequently arrested in Benin Republic, detailed, but now, he is a free man.
The new twist
However, on Saturday, April 13, a group of 18 masked people attempted to take over the Oyo state House of Assembly and Government Secretariat to proclaim the emergence of a Yoruba Nation. They caused commotion as they insisted on hoisting a flag, but the insurrectionists were overpowered and arrested by officers of the Oyo state Police Command.
To the charging of many, a few hours after the ‘Ibadan show,’ a woman, who was not known as a part of the struggle, Mrs. Modupe Onitiri Abiola, who this medium learnt is not residing in Nigeria, appeared on several platforms to endorse the action of the Oodua 18 and proclaimed that a Democratic Republic of Yoruba had emerged with effect from April 13.
The additional twist in the tale was that the woman introduced herself as the widow of Chief MKO Abiola, the late pillar of sports in Africa.
To this end, the previously known faces of Yoruba nation agitation, Igboho, and Professor Banji Akintoye, had denied their involvement in the latest action of the agitators.
The manhunt
The Police have equally launched a manhunt for Dupe Onitiri-Abiola, linked to the Oyo state Government Secretariat invasion in Ibadan by suspected Yoruba Nation agitators, and paraded the suspects with their seized weapons, ammunition, and other items in Ibadan.
The Oyo state police commissioner, Adebola Hamzat, who presented the detainees, labelled the event as criminal and treasonous, while the special adviser to the Oyo state governor on security matters, Fatai Owoseni, acknowledged Onitiri-Abiola’s leadership of a Yoruba Nation agitator group.
Meanwhile, the Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court in Ibadan has ordered the remand of 29 suspected Yoruba Nation agitators for invading the premises of the Oyo state Secretariat.
The defendants faced a seven-count charge bordering on conspiracy, treasonable felony, belonging to an unlawful society, going armed in public, conduct likely to cause a breach of peace and unlawful possession of firearms.
The suspects, including a young woman and five elderly women, were remanded by Chief Magistrate Olabisi Ogunkanmi at the Agodi Correctional Centre in Ibadan, and the matter was adjourned till August 1, for mention.
‘Invasion unreasonable’
Reacting to the invasion, a member of the House of Assembly, Daud Olalere, described the action as “unreasonable.”
He said, “I use this opportunity to appreciate the Nigeria Police and all the security forces that came to the Oyo state House of Assembly to rescue the situation. The action (taken by the secessionists) is not very reasonable because if we have to reason it very well, the man in charge of this country today is a Yoruba man.
“Many things are taking place in Nigeria today and restructuring is part of them to put everything in place, and if that is the case, they can suggest what they need to make Nigeria better, and for the regions to live peacefully and for all of us to leave peacefully.”
‘It’s a treasonable act’
Appearing on Arise TV, a former military governor of Ondo state, Chief Bode George, described the invasion as “a treasonable act,” saying it was the highest breaking law of the land.
“I wish our nation well. When one of my political sons in Oyo state sent a clip to me, I thought it was Nollywood, when I was now listening to a lady who was talking, I knew something had gone amiss.
“You don’t just gather people to take arms against your government. It is treason and they were even lucky that they called the Amotekun first before the Police arrived. If it had been people from my profession (The Armed Forces), they would have seen them as enemies and they would have fired at them. I was completely very angry because that is not the way you talk about your government.
“A lady who spoke said she is Mrs. Abiola Onitiri, she is a very sounding and well-known name in the Western part of the country. What could have driven her to that level? She is not in the country, and she is declaring the kingdom. It is a joke and a bad dream. The Attorney General of the Federation and the President are from the South-west, so what could have driven them (the secessionists) to that level? Or maybe they are not educated.
“Patience is very key here. You don’t take arms against your nation. Let her (Mrs. Abiola Onitiri) come home because it is unimaginable; they brought guns, and they were there with charms. Were they dreaming? It is unacceptable. It is the highest breaking law of the land,” he said.