Former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has once again appealed to the federal government and President Muhammadu Buhari to, “for the sake of Nigeria’s peace and unity, and in the name of God” leave Sunday (Igboho) and his group alone.
Fani-Kayode said the nation must tread the path of peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and understanding.
He said that efforts at establishing peace and unity must continue, as war is not an option for the Nigerian people “and we must NEVER be pushed into it.”
The former minister made the remarks while reacting to the attack on the residence of Chief Sunday Adeyemo (Igboho) Thursday around 1.30 am.
Fani-Kayode gave an account of what allegedly transpired and the havoc done at Igboho’s residence: “They surrounded the house, laid siege (to) the occupants and then attacked. Two people were killed and their bodies were taken away whilst a large number of others were arrested.
“Sunday Igboho’s passport and travel documents were stolen together with his phones, his personal effects, computers and the sum of two million naira.
“There were about 100 soldiers and security agents involved and Sunday managed to escape after his boys shielded him from the bullets.
“They insisted that he should leave whilst they resisted the attack as best as they could and with few numbers.”
The former minister wondered what the Yoruba activist has done that the federal government are hunting him, saying there is nothing Igboho has been asked to do in terms of keeping the peace in the South West that he has not done, “including guaranteeing the security and safety of the local Hausa Fulani population, building bridges, keeping the peace and having dialogue with other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria.”
Fani-Kayode said whilst others were attacking innocent Hausa Fulanis in the South West, (Igboho) was protecting them; adding that the Yoruba activist has also shown the greatest respect to all the Yoruba elders, traditional rulers and leaders and has refused to allow his supporters to terrorise and attack non-Yorubas.
He said, “The only enemies he and the Yoruba people have are the foreign Fulani terrorists that are in our forests and that are kidnapping and killing our people.
“And whether Sunday is alive or dead those terrorists will still be our enemies and we shall still resist them in our land with all our might.”
Fani-Kayode said Sunday (Igboho) speaks the mind of over 70 million Yorubas throughout the world, and whoever is trying to kill him is “pulling the tail of a wild lion and poking the eye of a sleeping giant.”
He urged the “federal government and President Muhammadu Buhari himself to leave Sunday and his group alone and to tread the path of peaceful coexistence, mutual respect and understanding” warning that “that is the only way to avoid a major conflict which may eventually degenerate into a civil war.”
He said if the activist is wanted by the security agents, all they need to do is to invite him; and that there is no need to raid his home in the middle of the night, kill his people, steal his things, terrorise his supporters and attempt to kill him.
“They do not need to invoke the wrath of the Yoruba nation and attempt to manage the consequences of such a reckless and unpredictable course,” Fani-Kayode warned.