Akintoye on why he left Nigeria

466

…Says “government planed to invade my home and kill me,”

The leader of the umbrella body of Yoruba Self-Determination Groups, Ilana Omo Oodua, Prof Banji Akintoye, has claimed that he flee Nigeria when his intelligence officers informed him of plans to kill him by the Buhari government .

The Professor of History who on Tuesday claimed there are clear indications of “disorderliness in Nigeria” wondered why the government was after him, noting that he had committed no crime.
Professor Akintoye said this when asked why he left Nigeria for Benin Republic during an interview with BBC News Yoruba.

He said, “A lot of those in government position inform me of the plans, but none of them has ever told me there are plans to arrest me, I have done nothing wrong, why will they want to arrest me, I speak my mind as a Nigerian.”

Said he,“My intelligence people who inform me of the plans by secret agents told me that they (government) know I cannot be arrested but they can cause my death.

“They can invade my house at night with guns and kill me. That was why some elders met and advised me to leave the country for now. That was why I left Nigeria. I left Nigeria over the death threat, not for arrest; there is nothing to arrest us about.”

Akintoye expressed confidence that his struggle for Yoruba Nation would yield results, adding that the agitation was not against any tribe.

He added, “We just believe Nigeria is not a place where the Yoruba people should still be part of, Nigeria is declining and it will continue to decline because there is no order.

“I have never ordered young people to go and fight, disrupt the peace of the nation or any of sort. I have even written a book on the processes to take to achieve our revolution, there will be no fight, we will leave Nigeria peacefully and we will be good neighbours to others we are leaving behind and they will be good neighbors to us.”

Professor of history also alleged that some Yoruba people were conniving with the government to keep self determination agitator Sunday Igboho in Benin Republic detention forever.

He said, “I learnt some Yorubas are part of those conniving with the government to keep Igboho in detention forever, well, such things can happen, there will always he betrayers. You can’t see a town without a betrayer.”

“There will always be betrayers; it’s not a big deal. Benin is a country where they obey the law. If it was a country like Nigeria where officials act with impunity but fortunately, Benin Republic is not like that, we do not have fear of any plans to extradite him to Nigeria.”
Patmosmedia

Kindly support the growth of journalism in Nigeria

Reactions to stories published can be sent to us at [email protected]


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *