Who is Sunday Igboho and why is everybody talking about him?
You may have been hearing a lot about a certain Sunday Igboho recently. He has been receiving more kudos than knocks for his fight against suspected Fulani herdsmen accused of kidnapping and criminal activities in Oyo state and other parts of southwest Nigeria.
Who is he?
Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho first came to national prominence during the last major crisis between Ile-Ife and Modakeke in Osun state between 1997 and 2000. He became known as Sunday Igboho when he lived in Modakeke. “People used to call me Sunday Omo Baba Igboho (Sunday, son of Igboho man). But people continued to call me Sunday Igboho and it stuck,” he told Nigerian newspaper The Tribune in 2018.
The 47-year-old who is from Igboho town in Orelope LGA of Oyo state lived in Modakeke for 30 years and played a prominent role in communal clashes there.
His role in Oyo politics:
He regained prominence in the early 2000s for the support he gave former Oyo governor Rasheed Ladoja during his impeachment crisis in 2006. In 2018, he also indicated interest in running for Oyo governor.
Why is he in the spotlight again?
In September 2020 Igboho led security operatives to Kishi forest in Irepo LGA, Oyo state, to chase away suspected Fulani herdsmen terrorising the community. On January 17, 2021, he visited a Fulani settlement in Igangan, Ibarapa North LGA of Oyo and gave a seven-day ultimatum to the Fulanis to leave the area, accusing them of masterminding abductions and other criminal activities in the area.
Igboho boasts of having the power to command a gun from the air. “It is a divine secret from God; I inherited the powers from my fathers,” he has been quoted as saying.
What are people saying about Akoni Oodua?
Lots of people have been hailing him for his bravery and efforts to protect his people, however, some believe he is a political thug taking wrong actions.
A Special Adviser to Nigeria’s President, Babafemi Ojudu, in an article on Monday ‘The Igboho I know’, narrated his encounter with the activist in 2009 and implied that he was a political thug. Igboho denies.
Violence made him famous and now he is winning the hearts of many with his war against banditry. A Yoruba movie ‘Sunday Igboho’ was made in his name in 2017.
