Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has revealed that his family is worried over the cause he has been fighting.
Igboho has been in the news recently after he asked herdsmen, mostly of Fulani extraction, to leave some parts of Oyo and Ogun States.
He had accused the herders of kidnapping and killing indigenes of the communities, and also destroying their farmlands.
In January, one of his houses in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, was burnt by hoodlums.
But in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, Igboho said no human being can kill him, adding that he will not be distracted.
“I am not afraid of anything or anyone but God. God is the owner and controller of every soul. It is only God who can kill me. No human being can kill me, so I cannot be afraid of any mortal.
“My children challenge and persuade me to quit every day. They wave the caution sign to me every time. My wife is also very worried about the cause that I fight but I have to do this for the liberation of my people, anyway. But I am equally worried for my people who are being dehumanised and oppressed in their own territory for no just reason. Those who should address the issue just fold their arms and watch because they are compromised. This struggle is for the good of all so that when I am gone they would not live in subjection,” he said.
Oyo State governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, had kicked against the quit notice Igboho issued to the Fulanis in Ibarapa area of the state, but Igboho said he can work in harmony with the governor in as much as “he recognises the fact that we have the fundamental right to secure our people and to protect their interest.”
There have been concerns since Igboho issued the threat, but he said the problem is with those between him and the government as they are creating undue tension.
“We are sure that the governor is able to feel the pulse of the people who are feeling the heat from the killer herdsmen and we believe that he would rise up to the occasion and do the needful.
“If they call me for a meeting to discuss the burning issue of security to end the impunity by the killer herders, I shall gladly oblige. I am ready for any genuine approach to stopping the herders’ madness against our parents, brothers and sisters in Yorubaland. Why should our people, harmless for that matter, be going through all the horrible experiences without getting justice? And everybody folds their arms, looking on as if nothing is wrong,” he said.
He called on Yoruba people to be united and stop playing politics with the lives of the people, adding that royal fathers, politicians, youth and elders should speak with one voice and there should not be any discord in Yorubaland.
Igboho further said Yoruba leaders should remember “that the first Oyo Empire was mowed down by this same set of people. The second Oyo Empire at Igboho was equally destroyed by the same people. This time, our people must be protected by all Yoruba people.”
