Prominent Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has recounted how he escaped arrest during the controversial Department of State Services (DSS) raid on his Ibadan residence in July 2021, claiming operatives mistook a cat for him and even brought in what he described as a “fake herbalist” in an attempt to capture him.
Speaking on Monday while hosting a delegation of Muslim clerics at his residence in Ibadan, Igboho said he remained inside the house throughout the operation despite the heavy security presence.
According to him, the operatives stormed his residence at about 1:30 a.m. and immediately opened fire after hearing his voice.
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“They came around 1:30 a.m. I heard a sound and was asking who it was when they started shooting at the room because they heard my voice,” he said.
Igboho alleged that the operatives later used explosives to gain access after planting dynamite on the burglary proof protecting the building.
“They planted a dynamite on the burglary, and everything completely fell apart. That was how they entered,” he said.
He recalled that he was naked when the operation began but quickly put on a pair of jeans and a shirt before considering whether to surrender.
“One mind was telling me to surrender to them; the other was telling me not to surrender because I would be killed,” he said.
According to the activist, the operatives pointed a gun at the head of his personal assistant, identified as Dudu, and ordered him to persuade him to come out.
“They forced the door open. People even said they shot me and I escaped with my intestines hanging out, but that never happened,” he added.
Igboho dismissed long-standing rumours that he transformed into a cat to evade arrest.
“I didn’t turn into a cat. They even killed it, thinking it was me. They even brought a fake herbalist who was making incantations and performing rituals. I was inside the house watching them, but they didn’t see me,” he claimed.
He also alleged that one of his relatives, who was partially blind, was shot after security operatives mistook him for an attacker.
“There was this my brother who was partially blind. When he came out, they shot him, thinking he wanted to attack them,” he said.
Igboho claimed the officers took away the bodies of those killed during the operation as evidence that they had carried out the raid.
He attributed his survival to divine intervention, saying prayers previously offered by Muslim clerics at his residence had protected him.
“It was God that saved me after prayers that some Muslim clerics did in my house because of a bad vision they said they had seen concerning me,” he said.
The DSS raided Igboho’s residence in the Soka area of Ibadan on July 1, 2021, following months of tension between the activist and the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
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Before the operation, Igboho had drawn national attention after issuing an ultimatum to some Fulani residents in parts of Oyo State, accusing them of involvement in kidnapping and other violent crimes. He later intensified his campaign for the creation of an independent Yoruba Nation.
Following the raid, the DSS said it recovered firearms and ammunition from the residence and arrested 13 of Igboho’s associates. The agency also stated that two of his aides were killed during what it described as an exchange of gunfire.
Igboho’s latest account offers his personal version of the events surrounding the operation, which remains one of the most controversial security actions carried out against a separatist figure in recent Nigerian history.
