ODUDUWA NEWS has just gathered that the Officers of the Nigerian Police Force from the Ogun State Police Command, on Saturday waylaid, and arrested 25 members of Ilana Omo Oodua as they were preparing for a peaceful rally in solidarity with the actualisation of Yoruba Nation in Abeokuta, the state capital.
Ilana Omo Oodua, under the leadership of
a renowned Historian, Emeritus Professor Banji Akintoye, is the umbrella body of all the Yoruba Self-Determination Groups within and beyond the shores of Nigeria.
According to several eyewitnesses who prefered anonymity, the Yoruba Activists, arrested and packed inside a Black Maria, are currently being detained at the Headquarters of the Ogun State Police Command in Abeokuta.
In an electronic statement sent to News Men on Saturday morning, the Media and Communications Secretary of Ilana Omo Oodua, Maxwell Adeleye, gave the names of some of those arrested as Comrade Wasiu Iyanda, Comrade Makanjuola Adigun, and 23 others.
“This is to let the general public know that the centrally-controlled Officers of the Nigerian Police have arrested 25 of our Comrades as they were preparing for the Pro-Yoruba Nation’s rally scheduled to hold today in Abeokuta, Ogun State.
“The arrested Yoruba Patroits were picked up in a commando style in front of the Alake Of Egba’s Palace in Abeokuta, the state capital by over 200 Armed-To-Teeth Officers of the Nigerian Police.
“We want to put it on record that those arrested did not commit any crime, rather, they are being vilified and harassed for exercising their rights to self-determination and peaceful assembly.
“We at Ilana Omo Oodua, renowned for peace and respect for the rules of law, are demanding for the unconditional release of our members with immediate effect or else, there will be mass actions against the Nigerian Police across Yoruba Land commencing from tomorrow.
“We also call on the Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun, to ensure that his state is not used to oppress the Yoruba people in any manner. We want Mr. Governor to remember that whatever happens today becomes history tomorrow”, the statement, concluded.