April 16, (THEWILL)- One of the suspects arrested by security operatives over last Saturday’s invasion of the Oyo State secretariat, Ismaila Malomo, has named Mrs. Dupe Onitiri-Abiola, widow of late Moshood Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, as one of their sponsors.
THEWILL reports that a group, the Democratic Republic of the Yoruba (DRY), under Mrs. Onitiri-Abiola, had earlier claimed responsibility for the invasion.
The suspected agitators had on Saturday, invaded the Oyo State secretariat dressed in military camouflage and attempted to take over the State House of Assembly.
Speaking with newsmen on Monday while being paraded alongside 20 others by the Oyo State Police Command at its Eleyele Headquarters in Ibadan, Malomo said he volunteered to drive the agitators down to the secretariat in Ibadan from Idi-Iroko in Ogun State.
“I drove the bus; it’s my bus. I received a message from my friend here that one of our sponsors, named Modupe Abiola Onitiri, gave us an order to go and take over the Oyo State Government Secretariat and wait there till she comes around and pronounces the Republic Nation of Oodua.
“We have several people as our sponsors but they’re in the diaspora. The ones that I can recollect for now are Modupe Abiola Onitiri, one Micky, and there are some others too.
“We do have virtual meetings frequently with these people, and at the last meeting, they told us that they’ve secured sovereignty from the United Nations and they’ve sent letters to all the concerned bodies that very soon they will come to Ibadan to formally declare the Yoruba Nation. That’s why I followed them down here, I’m so sorry for my actions,” he said.
Also, Alabi Ogundeji, a teacher at the Federal Government College, Oyo, said their leaders had taken the necessary steps before they invaded the secretariat, adding that their mission was to declare a Yoruba Nation.
“Our leaders have taken all the steps they ought to have taken on this issue. They’ve embarked on a referendum. They’ve issued almost 500 petitions; it was signed and served to all the Yoruba-speaking states – Osun, Oyo, Ondo, Lagos, Ekiti, Kogi and Kwara states.
“All these states were served with official letters and we have our own copies too. So, our action at the Oyo State Government secretariat is legal. We were only there to express happiness and joy over the proclamation of Yoruba Nation; we were not there to kill anybody,” he said.
The two suspects were paraded alongside Adeyemo Joseph Oluwaseun, 29; Adeyemo Peter, 75; Amos Oluwatuyi Ogundeji, 45; Ayanwale Rofiayat (female), 25; Olaleye Mathew, 54; Fatoki Anthony, 34; Muritala Abere, 40; Adepoju Ismaila, 45; Fatunmbi Wasiu, 30; Isaac Friday, 27; Ayanwale Saburi, 28; Elegbede Adebola, 27; Adedamola Deniyi, 29; Ojo Olufemi, 52; Ajani Ezekiel, 42; Adejumo Lateef, 60; Ayoola David, 40; Adesokan Hammed, 38; and Salawudeen Wahab, 56.
Parading the suspects, the State Police Commissioner, Adebola Hamzat, described the actions of the suspects as criminal and unpatriotic.
“On Saturday, at about 0855hrs, information was received that some men dressed in military-like camouflage, armed with pump action semi-automatic rifles, riding on motorcycles, were sighted moving into the main city from Olomi axis of Ibadan. At about 0915hrs, the hoodlums, later known as Yoruba nation agitation group, were trailed to the State secretariat, spreading from the flyover to within the premises of the Governor’s Office, and hoisted their flag at the House of Assembly, proclaiming the creation of a democratic republic of the Yoruba.
“While declaring this act as criminal, unpatriotic and a clear case of treasonable felony and terrorism to be meted with adequate sanctions through purposeful prosecutions, the Command re-assures the good people of Oyo State that it remains solidly unwavering in the protection of lives and property as constitutionally required by the laws of the land.
“As a parent, I enjoin other parents, guardians and leaders in every sphere of political, religious and socio-economic influence to prevail on their children, ward, protégés and followers against being used by unpatriotic individuals to promote anarchy in the state and by extension, the nation,” he said.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the President on Special Duties in the Office of the Vice-President, Jamiu Abiola, has condemned the invasion.
Abiola, who spoke with Vanguard, described it as sad that a woman connected with his father could have declared the South-West region a Democratic Republic of Yoruba Nation.
“I have never met her and I don’t think that she told members of the Abiola family because the family members I spoke to are furious about this. They are shocked. Our family patriarch, Chief Moshood Abiola, was well known for his strong belief in Nigeria’s unity and that was why it was easy for him to convince Nigerians from all regions to give him their votes.
“Even after his election was annulled by top army generals, mostly from the Northern part of the country, he never spoke about splitting Nigeria. It is sad that a woman bearing his name could have made such a declaration, particularly now that the Nigerian President, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is a Yoruba man who is doing a lot of what my father had wanted to do as Nigeria’s President.
“By doing that, we would be giving her declaration more attention than it deserves. We will ignore her just like most Nigerians have done. We have a principled matriarch in the person of Mrs Adebisi Abiola. She became our matriarch following the death of both my stepmother and actual mother, Alhaja Simbiat Abiola and Alhaja Kudirat Abiola, respectively.
“She is a noblewoman known to speak the mind of my father even after his death. We also have our eldest sibling, the first child of my father, Mrs Lola Edewor Abiola. She is an intelligent woman accomplished as a politician and technocrat. She can also speak on behalf of the Abiola family,” he said.
