The Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has said he did not turn into a cat when operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) raided his Ibadan house in July 2021.
Igboho claimed that although the security operatives surrounded and searched the property, they were unable to locate him inside the house.
The activist spoke yesterday when a delegation of Muslim clerics visited him at his residence in Ibadan, Oyo State. He also alleged that the operatives mistook a cat for him and brought in a man he described as a fake herbalist to perform rituals during the operation.
Recounting the incident, Igboho said the operatives arrived at his residence at about 1.30 am and began shooting after hearing his voice.
“When they came around 1.30 am, I heard a sound and was inquiring who it was. They started shooting in the room. They heard my voice,” he said.
According to him, the operatives later gained access to the building after using explosives on the security fittings.
“When they finally scaled the fence, they planted dynamite on the burglary, and everything completely fell apart. That was where they entered.
“I was naked, but upon hearing their voices, I put on jeans and a shirt. One mind was telling me to surrender to them; the other was telling me not to surrender, else I would be killed,” he added.
Igboho said he eventually challenged the operatives to explain why they had invaded his home.
“So, at one point, it looked like I was scared of them. Then I immediately yelled, asking what had happened and why they had come to pick me up. They started shooting at close range without even seeing me,” he alleged.
The activist claimed that the operatives pointed a gun at the head of his personal assistant, whom he identified as Dudu, and ordered him to open the door.
“When they entered and were screaming that I should open the door, they pointed a gun at Dudu’s head. He kept begging me not to shoot while knocking on the door. There, I became suspicious. They forced the door open,” Igboho said.
He also dismissed reports that he was injured while escaping from the residence, saying, “People were even lying that they shot me and that I ran away with my intestines out.”
Igboho rejected claims that he transformed into a cat to evade arrest, saying the security operatives killed an animal after allegedly mistaking it for him.
“They even brought a fake herbalist who was just making incantations and performing rituals. I was in the house watching them, but they didn’t see me”, he said.
The activist also alleged that a partially sighted relative was shot after security personnel mistook him for an attacker.
“There was this brother of mine who was partially blind and came out. Upon sighting him, they shot him, thinking that he wanted to attack them. They took the corpses away as evidence that they truly invaded my home,” he claimed.
Igboho attributed his escape to divine intervention and prayers offered by Muslim clerics before the incident.
“So, it was God who saved me after a prayer that some Muslim clerics conducted in my house, following a bad vision they said they had seen concerning me,” he added.
DSS operatives raided Igboho’s Soka residence in Ibadan in the early hours of 1 July 2021, amid tensions between the activist and the Federal Government.
Before the raid, Igboho had gained national attention after issuing an ultimatum to some Fulani residents in parts of Oyo State, accusing criminal elements among them of involvement in kidnapping and other violent crimes.
He later intensified his campaign for the creation of an independent Yoruba Nation.
Following the operation, the DSS said firearms and ammunition were recovered from the residence, while 13 of Igboho’s associates were arrested.
The agency also confirmed that two of his aides were killed during what it described as an exchange of gunfire.
Igboho fled Nigeria after the raid but was later arrested in Cotonou, Benin Republic, while reportedly attempting to travel to Germany.
The Beninese authorities released him after months of legal proceedings and have continued to advocate for the Yoruba nation movement. Geographic Reference
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