Rashidi Ladoja Says Nnamdi Kanu, Sunday Igboho Deserve Amnesty

A former governor of Oyo State, Chief Rashidi Ladoja, has said that the Federal Government created Yoruba nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, fondly called Sunday Igboho , and the leader of the Independent People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

Therefore, Ladoja said, Igboho and Kanu deserve to be given amnesty just as the government did to a number of Boko Haram insurgents that were also enlisted into some security agencies.

Ladoja spoke in an interview with journalists at his Ondo Street, Bodija, Ibadan residence, after he observed this year’s Eid-el-Kabir prayer at the University of Ibadan on Tuesday.

The Federal Government had abducted Kanu, the IPOB leader, from Kenya on Tuesday, June 27 , while security agents took Igboho into custody in neighbouring Cotonou on the night of Monday, July 19.

Reacting to questions from journalists on Tuesday, Ladoja said arresting Igboho and Kanu would not end the agitation for self-determination across the country.

He added that their agitations were a result of the government’s failure to tackle insecurity in the country, which he said had escalated.

He said: “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 creation of the Federal Government. Why? Because whenever they arrested herdsmen, who were killing their people, Federal Government never acts.

“That was why those two people came up to defend their people.

“Boko Haram members that were arrested a year ago by the government have been released to the Borno State government.

“The Federal Government created Sunday Igboho in the context of 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, have been complaining about the atrocities committed by Fulani herdsmen without response from the Federal Government.

“Order would come from above to release them and that is why people resorted to self-help.

“It is in this process that Igboho was created due to the killings that had been happening in Ibarapa axis and nobody has been arrested. Even if they were arrested, they will be released.

“Arrest of Igboho will not change anything if government failed to do the needful.

Many Igbohos 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 Igbohos and Kanus.”