*Says he had wished to see Igboho, so as to “sympathise with his predicament”
NOBEL Laureate, Wole Soyinka, yesterday, met with Yoruba Nation campaigner, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Ighoho, in Cotonou, the capital of Benin Republic.
A source close to Soyinka confirmed the visit with a picture showing Igboho with the Nobel laureate and leader of Yoruba self-determination group, Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, Professor Banji Akintoye and Prof Wale Adeniran, also a chieftain of the group.
Though the full content of what transpired at the meeting could not be ascertained, the source said Soyinka had earlier been sighted at the Seme Border, while he was about to cross to Cotonou.
Said the source, “He was mobbed by a crowd while waiting to complete immigration formalities and when repeatedly asked where he was headed. His response was that he was on a visit to the Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Igboho to break the Moslem fast with him.
“Reminded that neither he nor Ighoho was a Moslem, he asserted that it made no difference. He said he had wished to see Igboho, so as to sympathize with his predicament.
“The Ramadan is as good as any other season to express non-denominational solidarity,” the the human rights activist- Professor was quoted as saying.
Soyinka’s visitation to Igboho is coming about five weeks after Akintoye announced the release of the Yoruba Nation activist from detention in the Benin Republic.
After being declared wanted by the Department of State Services (DSS), Igboho was accused of stockpiling arms to destabilise Nigeria. But the separatist leader strongly denied the allegation.
In July 2021, Igboho fled his Ibadan residence and escaped to the neighbouring Francophone country.
He was arrested by the Interpol at a Benin airport on July 19, 2021, while about to board a flight to Germany.
After spending about nine months in a detention facility in the Benin Republic, Igboho was released on health grounds. But his lead counsel, Yomi Aliyyu, ruled out the possibility of his client’s return to Nigeria anytime soon.
