Nobody Can Stop Agitation For Oduduwa Republic – Akintoye

Prominent Yoruba leader, Prof. Banji Akintoye has said nobody can stop the agitation for Yoruba self-determination.

In a statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the Ilana Omo Odua, Maxwell Adeleye, the leader said the agitation for Oduduwa Republic will be realised.

Akintoye, the leader of the group called on all Yoruba self-determination groups to begin to hold rallies in their localities every weekend.

He hailed the Yoruba Nimi Omo Kootu-Ojire and its founder, Titilayo Ojeleye, for the success of the rally held in Abeokuta on Saturday to drum up support for the actualisation of the Yoruba nation.

He said, “I want to advise the Nigerian State that the Yoruba self-determination struggle under my leadership shall continue to be peaceful and orderly.

“Therefore, threatening us, or attempting to subjugate our rights to self-determination and peaceful assembly are cowardly.

“We are marching on, and like valiant soldiers without a dint of fear. I make bold to put it to the Nigerian state that no one can stop an idea whose time has come.

“However, let me warn that all our people should note that each rally must be conscientiously peaceful, lawful and orderly.”

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Enyinnaya Abaribe has cleared the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other pro-Biafran agitators of being behind the killing of security operatives in the Southeast.

Speaking with The Nation after he delivered a keynote address at the Nigeria Bar Association Owerri Branch 2021 Law Week, the lawmaker said the attacks were being carried out by those he described as ‘fifth columnists imported into Igboland’ whose key motivation was the destabilization of Igboland.

According to the former Abia Deputy governor, IPOB and MASSOB are not responsible for the attacks.

Senator Abaribe (PDP-Abia South), however, warned that those imported to cause chaos in the region would not succeed.

“Anybody, who is seeing all these problems in southeast as coming from the IPOB, anyone trying to pin the insecurity situation in southeast to IPOB or MASSOB is making a mistake. We do not think so,” Abaribe said.

“Those of us from the southeast here know that this is nothing but fifth columnists imported into Igboland to destabilise Igboland. This is because Igboland is the safest place that we had in this country.

“All they want to do is to cause a confusion and make this place ungovernable so that they can go out and say there is terrorism here.

“We are not terrorists. The ethos of the Igbo man is very simple: live and let live. We build; we don’t destroy. We never kill because we take life very precious.

“So, anyone telling you all these, it’s people who come from elsewhere trying to destabilize Igboland. But, it will never happen”.