Yoruba activist and Oduduwa Republic agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo also known as Sunday Igboho stormed Ekiti state on Saturday in continuation of the rally for the creation of the Yoruba nation, saying the 2023 general elections would not hold in the South West region.
Igboho who arrived Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital around 5:02pm was received by thousands of residents and agitators who had gathered for the event since around 8am.
The rally organised by the Professor Banji Akintoye-led Ilana Omo Oodua, the umbrella body of Yoruba Self Determination Group, paralysed social and commercial activities in the state capital with the popular Fajuyi park, Bank road, Ojumose , Okeiyinmi all blocked for the peaceful demonstration.
Addressing the crowd, Igboho lamented the suffering of Yoruba people in the hands of criminal Fulani herdsmen, saying all hands must be on deck to achieve the desired aim of secession.
He declared that the 2023 general elections would not hold in the region unless the Oduduwa republic is created, calling on all stakeholders to support him and other leaders in achieving it.
He said, “We must stand up for our freedom because we have suffered enough in the hands of Fulani. We are Yoruba people and we must not be slaves in our own land.
“Enough is enough for the Fulani colonisation in our land. We have all the natural resources but it is the Fulani people that is controlling it. It is enough.We have a lot of our youths that are graduate but no job for them , that should not be the case.
“This is the reason we said it is enough, we are not going to work with them. We will not vote in 2023,if there is no referendum, that is the truth. The election won’t hold.
“You can see what the criminal Fulani are doing in our land, killing us, kidnapping and raping our women. People can no longer go to farms for fear of being killed. As from today, we will begin to enter the bushes to chase out Fulani from our land. We don’t want them again.”
Also speaking, the media communication secretary of Ilana Omo Oodua group, Maxwell Adeleye said the rally was aimed at sensitising the people of Ekiti on the need for the creation of Oduduwa nation.
According to him, “We at Ilana Omo Oodua, supported by well-meaning Yoruba people within and beyond the shores of Nigeria will continue to mobilise and educate our people on the dangers associated with our continuous stay in Nigeria.
“We are ready and our people are ready. The rally today is to sensitise the good people of Ekiti state to start preaching the gospel in all the nooks and crannies of Ekiti state. We shall succeed and triumph against the gighota. We shall rescue our land from the jaw of under-development.
“Our continuous stay in Nigeria is slowing down our progress. We were progressing and excelling well in all ramifications before the coup of 1966 which has dragged us 60 years backward. The only panacea is for the Yoruba people to have their independence from Nigeria and that shall be achieved peacefully and logically without violence.”