A 55-year-old lecturer at the Federal College of Education (Special), in Oyo State, Alabi Ogundeji, who is one of the arrested Yoruba Nation agitators who invaded the Oyo State Governor’s Office and the state House of Assembly on Monday declared that he doesn’t regret his action.
Corroborating his view, a 29-year-old phone repairer, Ademola Adeniyi, who was part of the arrested agitators, also said he didn’t regret joining the struggle.
The PUNCH reports that about 20 persons were arrested by the police after some masked men in military camouflage with rifles and charms suspected to be Yoruba Nation agitators early Saturday invaded the Governor’s Office and the state House of Assembly.
Speaking with newsmen separately at the state Police Command, Eleyele in Ibadan, the state capital, during their parade by the police, the duo insisted that their actions were lawful under Nigeria and international law.
Ogundeji said, “I’m part of the agitation and I can’t deny it. Yoruba as an indigenous nation is a nation on its own. We have so many nations in Nigeria and Yoruba is one of them.
“Oodua Nation leaders (Dupe Onitiri Abiola) have taken every step and action that needed to be taken. So, we embarked on a referendum which was 500 petitions signed by all Yorubas, and this has served as the referendum.
“Our leadership went to all Yoruba-speaking states to serve official letters written by our leaders and we were given our copy. After that is proclamation, declaration, occupation, and notification to the world that Yoruba is an indigenous nation.
“We were at the Secretariat, Agodi in Ibadan to celebrate and rejoice because of the new nation that was born. It is not a new thing that Yoruba is a nation and we want to stand on our own. We have been together with Nigeria for over 100 years.
In his own, the 29-year-old phone repairer, Adeniyi, also amongst those arrested said, “We all know that nothing is working in Nigeria and things are hard for everyone except those in government. We were at the Secretariat waiting for our leader to address us.
“We believe our leader knows much about the law. So, we are not afraid to join when we are called upon. Our leader told us that all challenges Yoruba are facing shall be addressed if we achieve our aim,” he stressed.
While parading all the suspects, the state Police Commissioner, Hamzat Adebola, described the act as criminal, unpatriotic and a clear case of treasonable felony and terrorism which would be meted with adequate sanctions.
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