Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, on Monday, asked the Federal Government to apologise to Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Igboho, over the invasion and destruction of his house by operatives of the Department of State Services, who also killed two of his associates.
DSS operatives had invaded Igboho’s house in Ibadan, Oyo State, early on Thursday, claiming the operation followed intelligence it received of stockpiled arms inside the house.
Igboho, who has been declared wanted by the DSS, had recently been agitating for a ‘Yoruba Nation,’ following what he has described as a ‘Fulani invasion’ of the South-West.
But Soyinka, in an interview with BBC Pidgin, on Monday, berated the Federal Government, saying the reasons given for invading Igboho’s home “stinks.”
The Nobel laureate said, “My advice to the government is that they should stop pursuing Igboho as a criminal, because you have begun by acting in a criminal fashion against him.
“If and when Igboho comes to trial, I guarantee you the government will be very embarrassed.
“I think they should tell Igboho ‘we made a mistake’, ‘we should not have acted in this way’, ‘you are no longer wanted’, ‘go back to your home, in fact escort him to his home’ and let him resume his normal life.”
Soyinka explained that Igboho’s agitation for freedom was instigated by criminal acts of the country’s enemies who “appear to be supported by the force of the state.”
Soyinka, who further stressed that he was not comfortable with the agitation for a ‘Yoruba Nation’ more than the demand for a Tiv or Igbo nation, said Nigeria must be restructured by decentralising power.
He stated that Nigeria’s current structure was a military imposition on the people.