Sunday Igboho facing five-year jail term if found guilty in Benin Republic

Sunday Igboho, the Yoruba nation activist and philanthropist could spend between two to five years in Beninese prison if found guilty of illegally possessing a passport of the neighbouring country.

The separatist leader was arrested at the Cardinal Bernadin International Airport in Cotonou, Benin with a Beninese passport having fled Nigeria after he was declared a person of interest by the Federal Government.

The Buhari-led administration had attempted arresting Igboho through several illegal means. The latest of such attempts was a bloody raid on his home in Ibadan by the Department of States Service (DSS) two days before the scheduled Yoruba Nation rally in Lagos.

The raid led to the death of two persons and the arrest of twelve of his aides.

His wife, Ropo who was also arrested has been released after the court sitting on Thursday, July 22, 2021. The Cour De’appal du Cotonou ordered the police to hand over all documents which was taken from her after her arrest. Sunday Igboho, however, is in the custody of the Brigade Criminelle in Cotonou. His next hearing scheduled for Friday, July 23, 2021.

Born in Igboho town, located in Oke-Ogun, Oyo State, the philanthropist who is presumed to be fully Nigerian has no known ties to Benin Republic.

According to Beninese laws, a passport holder must possess a National identity card which makes him/her eligible to have one.

The individual(s) must have a certificate or a certificate of residence in Benin and proof of the profession (diploma, certificate of employment or completion of apprenticeship, certificate of education or trade register for merchant).

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has acknowledged a petition filed against the Nigerian government by Sunday Igboho.

The self-acclaimed ‘Yoruba Nation’ activist together with Leader of Ilana Omo Oodua Banji Akintoye; Leader of Yoruba Strategy Simisade Kuku; Imam of Yoruba in Ilorin Raheem Aduranigba, and over 40 other Yoruba Nation groups had petitioned the Geneva-based institution to demand the seccession of the Yoruba people from the Nigerian state.

The agitators accused Nigerian authorities, including past and present heads of security agencies, of committing crimes against humanity and genocide, particularly against Yoruba people of Ekiti, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ogun, Okun Land in Kogi, and Kwara states, ICIR said.