Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka on Monday chided the Nigerian government over perceived harassment of Sunday Igboho by security operatives. Professor Soyinka, therefore, admonished the Nigerian government to desist from chasing Igboho like a criminal and apologise to him after operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) raided his home and killed two of his allies.
Professor Soyinka, speaking on BBC Pidgin programme on Monday, proitested that the government’s actions and rationale for invading Igboho’s home “stinks.”
He declared: “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 maintained that Igboho’s struggle for freedom is preceded by criminal acts of enemies of Nigeria who “appear to be supported by the force of the State.”
Soyinka reiterated that the country must be restructured through the decentralisation of power to resolve the lingering crisis in the country, adding that he does not ‘like the sound of a Yoruba Nation’ any more than he likes the sound of a Tiv or Igbo nation.
Professor Soyinka insisted that Nigeria’s current structure was imposed on the people by the military.
The DSS had raided the residence of Igboho in Ibadan, Oyo State, in the early hours of Thursday, working on intelligence the Service claimed to have received that Igboho was stockpiling arms for violence in the southwest region.