Afenifere Flays Extension of Igboho’s Incarceration

Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan and Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

A pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has expressed disappointment and profound regret over the extension of the incarceration by six months of Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo otherwise known as Igboho.

Afenifere, in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Jare Ajayi,said extending the detention of anyone, who had not been convicted of any offence was against the law of any country that claimed to be guided by the rule of law.

The group noted that Igboho had spent about 204 days in detention in Republic of Benin, stating that this is much longer than it should be for a person, who had not been convicted of any offence and a person, who was not a criminal by any standard.

“The prolongation of his detention was a negation of the announcement on Saturday by the Abuja-based lawyer, Mr. Pelumi Olajengbesi, that Igboho would be released soon,” the group said.

Afenifere, however, lauded Chief Yomi Alliyu, SAN, for his doggedness in pursuing Igboho’s case and urged him to continue, saying, “Alliyu’s decision to resort to the ECOWAS Court to challenge the extension is quite welcomed. We are prayerful that the Court will reverse the decision by the Benin Court and set Igboho free soonest.”

He then called on the government of Benin Republic to rescind this ruling by its court in order to redeem its receding image on its respect for the rule of law.

Recalling a 2021 Report by The World Justice Project (WJP), which placed Benin at 91st position out of 139 countries, where the rule of law was not being respected, the groupsaid the country’s overall rule of law score decreased 2.3 per cent in the 2021 Index as it fell three positions in global ranking.

“The score placed the country (Benin) at 11th position out of 33 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and 14th out of 35 among lower-middle income countries,” Afenifere stated.

According to the Yoruba leading group, Benin deserves a better record as its extension of Igboho’s detention would only worsen its image if not reversed, urging the country not to descend to the level of Nigeria, which ranked 121st out 139, which was worse on the scale.

It also called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government to loosen the grip it has on nation-state agitators like Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu, to enhance its human rights record, stating that the government needed to be more sincere in its fight against terrorism.

“By so doing, political tension in the country will reduce, socio-economic activities will be boosted with an improvement on the welfare of the people just as lives and properties in Nigeria would be more secure,” Ajayi added.