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• Nnamdi Kanu should be out of jail if Igboho is free –MBF, INC, MUT
• Pardoning Yoruba Nation agitator pure nepotism –ACF
• No, their cases not same –Afenifere, Yoruba elders
By Vincent Kalu, Oluseye Ojo (Lagos); Noah Ebije, Kaduna; Scholastic Hir, Makurdi and Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
Controversies are trailing the recent decision by the Federal Government to pardon Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho.
In addition to the pardon, the removal of his name from the government’s Wanted List, has also reignited national conversations around justice, equity, fair play, and the persistent allegation of nepotism against President Bola Tinubu in the handling of separatist agitators in Nigeria.
Igboho is a prominent figure in the agitation for the Oduduwa Republic. Like other separatist leaders across the country, his name was once linked to allegations of terrorism, forcing him into exile after a dramatic raid on his residence in Ibadan in 2021.
With the announcement of his pardon, questions quickly emerged in public discourse: Was the move an act of nepotism by the Federal Government? Why was Sunday Igboho pardoned, while others facing similar charges, particularly the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, remain incarcerated?
Against the background, various socio-cultural groups, including the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), the Igbo National Council (INC), the Arewa Consultative Assembly (ACF), Mzough U Tiv (MUT), Afenifere, and Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) reacted to the issue.
Igboho, Kanu fighting for liberation from terrorism -MBF
President of the Middle Belt Forum, Dr. Bitrus Pogu, argued that Nigeria is a very funny place.
“When it is your own, you treat him with kid gloves. But when it’s another, you hit him hard. That’s what happens in this country,” he said.
Pogu stated that both Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu are voicing out the frustration and the desire of their people to be free or liberated from a domineering group, which was foisted on Nigeria by the British. According to him, the northern oligarchy has been dominating, determining things over the years, leading to insurgency all over the place.
He emphasised: “They pretend that these are just a bunch of criminals. But this bunch of criminals, when they go to a place, they shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ before doing anything. So, they are not just a bunch of criminals, they are Muslims, and from all that we see, they are being protected, guided and their operations facilitated by some high ranking people in government and in the security services.
“Both Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu, who are fighting for liberation of their people from this terrorising and domineering group are now labelled as terrorists, while the real terrorists are out there moving freely and, sometimes even when arrests are made, if they are made at all, they are let loose.
‘Other people who are not great celebrities like Sunday Igboho or Nnamdi Kanu, have been locked up in several communities in Middle Belt; particularly, people, who stood out to defend their communities have been rounded up and locked without trials in many cases and they are languishing in jail.
“This is the funny reality in this country. It is happening like this because we have not yet become a nation.”
Pogu stated further that the ideologies governing what is being done are incompatible.
He continued: “We cannot pretend, and there is no way we can say we have a secular country or system and then have Sharia operating alongside, it cannot work. The two are incompatible.
“So, this war of ideology and protection of interest by sections that have been planning and strategising on how to dominate others will continue to cause problems in this country.
“If Sunday Igboho is going free, Nnamdi Kanu should also go free. More so, if these people are going free, those others from small nationalities, who for defending their communities have been apprehended and locked up, should also be let out, since the government hasn’t been able to round up the criminals out there, whose hiding places are known.
“Thank God because of the pressure from the United States, and having the right people in the defence hierarchy, the insurgents are now not finding it easy, but the sponsors are still out there, people who think that some non-kinetic methodology can be used to solve the problems of people who are fighting an ideological war, and unleashing terror on people.
“So, the issue now, is that, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. If Sunday Igboho should be set free, Nnamdi Kanu should also be set free.
“The guy protecting his people in Kaduna, who is said to have been locked up should also be set free.
“People should have the right to defend themselves, and it is constitutional. But, when people bend the rules to favour their communities or their sections of the society, then there will be a problem.
“We are brewing a bigger problem in future, which is injustice through violence, and that shouldn’t be allowed to continue.”
Tinubu should extend same gesture to IPOB leader
The President General of the Igbo National Council (INC), Chilos Godsent, said President Tinubu should extend the same gesture to the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and other detained Igbo throughout the country.
According to him, this will reduce tension and insecurity challenges in the South East.
“In line with the spirit of mercy, unity and inclusion, the Igbo National Council INC requests President Tinubu to extend the gesture to many Igbo youth activists, who were arrested and detained in different correctional centres in Nigeria on allegations, bordering on their involvement in pro-Biafra activities.
“This will go a very long way to drastically reduce anger and tension in the South East Region, especially now that we are entering the 2027 election year.”
Pardoning Igboho is nepotism -MUT
In the same vein, the President General of Mzough U Tiv (MUT), World Wide, Chief Iorbee Ihagh, described the government’s action as a clear act of nepotism.
Ihagh a former comptroller of prisons, said pardoning Sunday Igboho, who was facing terrorism charges and removing his name from the wanted list, leaving Nnamdi Kanu in jail is injustice on the part of the Federal Government.
“It is nepotism. I don’t like injustice. Everybody should be treated the same way. I don’t see the reason why they are still holding Nnamdi Kanu, while Sunday Igboho, who was on the wanted list, has been freed. That is wrong and injustice should not be allowed to continue.
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“Former President Muhammadu Buhari recruited people from neighbouring Islamic states into the army for the Fulani agenda; to turn Nigeria into an Islamic state, and now, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wants to turn every state in Nigeria to be APC. That is a dictatorship.
“He should go ahead and release Nnamdi Kanu because I don’t see the offence he has committed,” Ihagh said.
It’s pure nepotism
In his reaction, the National Publicity Secretary of Arewa Consultative Assembly (ACF), Professor Tukur Muhammad-Baba, said with President Tinubu’s government, there was nothing surprising about the pardon granted to Igboho because it was not unusual.
Asked, if it is not nepotism on the part of the federal government by removing Igboho’s name from the wanted list, the ACF scribe agreed, saying: “It is and patently so. But, what’s the surprise in this as far as the present federal government is concerned? Such a move squarely falls into a clear pattern of the moves in place since this government got to the office”.
Allegation of nepotism against FG misleading, mischievous -Afenifere
Also reacting, the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Jare Ajayi, firmly rejected any suggestion of nepotism, insisting that such comparisons ignore crucial facts and legal distinctions, describing the claims of nepotism as “misleading and mischievous.”
According to him, a proper understanding of the pardon must begin with a careful review of how the Sunday Igboho saga unfolded.
Ajayi recalled that Igboho was declared wanted only after fleeing Nigeria to save his life, following a deadly raid on his home by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on July 1, 2021. During the operation, three people were killed, while several of Igboho’s property were destroyed.
“It was evident that those who invaded his residence were allegedly after his life,” Ajayi said.
He added that the incident was later adjudged to be a gross violation of Igboho’s fundamental human rights.
“In September 2021, a Federal High Court, sitting in Ibadan, presided over by Justice Ladiran Akintola, awarded ₦20billion in damages against the DSS for the unlawful invasion and destruction of property. Although the judgment was later overturned on appeal, the appellate court reportedly maintained that the raid itself was unlawful. The point, Afenifere insisted, could not be ignored,” he stressed.
Ajayi argued that, unlike others accused of terrorism, there was no evidence linking Igboho to acts of terror against the Nigerian state.
“He was never convicted of any crime, or did he jump bail at any time,” he stated.
By contrast, Afenifere maintained that the case of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu followed a very different legal trajectory.
According to Ajayi, Kanu was tried in 2015 and granted bail under specific conditions, which he allegedly violated by fleeing the country.
“While abroad, the federal government accused Kanu of making broadcast that incited violence, including attacks on security personnel and enforcement of sit-at-home orders in parts of the South-East. “Following the conclusion of his trial, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
“These are two completely different cases. Those who compare them must be faithful to the facts,” Ajayi stressed
Afenifere also expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu for granting clemency to Igboho, describing it as a step toward healing and justice.
The organisation also acknowledged the role played by Yoruba monarchs, who reportedly intervened on Igboho’s behalf. Among those commended were the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi; the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja; and the Olugbon of Orile-Igbon, Oba Francis Alao, who were said to have made strong representations to the president.
FG handled Igboho’s pardon appropriately -YCE
The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) said it is fully convinced that the Federal Government handled the pardon granted to the Yoruba nation activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, appropriately.
The Secretary-General of the council, Chief Oladipo Oyewole, made the remarks when he was contacted for the reaction of YCE on allegation of nepotism against the Federal Government, under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, over the pardon.
According to him, “Our position, is that quite a number of “seniors” (Elders in Nigeria) have advocated self-defence in confronting insurgents in the many oppressed parts of the Nigerian space, referencing the position of General Theophilus Danjuma (retd) on self-defence.
He stated: “Chief Sunday Adeyemo’s appearance on the Nigerian scene came at a time when the activities of Boko Haram got intensified, got raised to another level to the extent that it got out of control as if it was in agreement with some higher bodies or some protective authorities, who kept watching the mayhem, plundering of villages, killing, stealing and total erasure of communities in the East, West, South and North of Nigeria
“We are told that, in principle, the ambition of these insurgents is to capture people, subdue them, dislodge them and hold-on to whatever land space they may succeed in subsuming – as long as they are able to misappropriate their earthly belongings.
“In practical terms, this happened to Chief Sunday Adeyemo when people of Igboho Community in Oke Ogun were invaded from the North of their own settlement.
‘Reportedly, his people were subdued, maltreated, maimed and killed without provocation by the inhabitants of Igboho Town.
The rest is now history as documented by the Nigeria Police and human rights (defence) organisations in Nigeria.
“It has never been impugned that Sunday Adeyemo actualised any military plan to forcefully establish secessionist activities against the State of Nigeria
“Chief Sunday Adeyemo, from all we have heard, never ordered his followers to defy Federal Laws or stand against constituted authority in any part of the country.
“When he got haunted there were no mass rallies, nor were there discordant tunes sung by his people to disrepute or cause discomfort nor indeed confront the state or the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“From the above, it suffice to say that there was no case of treason made against Mr. Sunday Adeyemo by the police or any of the security agencies to the Nigerian public
“With the above and with the voluminous pile of evidence in police custody on the others, it will be unfair to put Chief Sunday Adeyemo beside his brother from the East for comparison. Nor indeed can we think that there is favouritism or nepotism in any way by the pardon granted.”
