On Monday, the arrested Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Igboho was arraigned behind closed doors in a High
Court in Cotonou, Benin Republic over fresh charges against him. In this report, TOLA ADENUBI who was on the ground to cover the trial writes that interests far beyond Nigeria and Benin Republic seem to be following the court case.
THE atmosphere at the High Court in Cotonou, Benin Republic on Monday was enough to alter proceedings in the ongoing trial of the Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly know as Sunday Igboho. On Monday morning, July 26, 2021, crowds of people were seen walking into the court premises, clustering in groups at strategic spots inside the court premises, waiting for Igboho to be brought in. Aside filling up spaces inside the court premises, others chose to sit in groups just at the entrance to the court’s main gate, waiting to witness the moment when would be brought to the court to face the charges preferred against him by the Benin Republic government.
According to sources within the court premises, the Benin Republic government seems not to be interested in the extradition rumours over the agitator, Igboho.
Rumours are rife that the Nigerian government had made efforts to get Chief Sunday Igboho extradited over allegations of agitating for the division of the country. However, sources at the court revealed that those charges had been quashed by the Benin Republic government who now wants to know how Igboho entered the country without proper documentation.
Large turnout
By midday, the whole court premises were filled with supporters of Igboho. The large gathering inside the premises led to the Beninese security bringing him in into the court premises through a back door behind the court, and not through the main entrance gate.
When news filtered through that the Yoruba Nation agitators was already inside the court premises, many moved to get seats inside a court chamber that was expected to hear the case.
However, after futile wait for the case to commence, many started leaving the court chamber and flooding the corridors, hoping to hear of any clue about the expected hearing.
With fear of an uncontrollable crowd if Igboho was brought out publicly, the court decided to hear the case against the Yoruba Nation agitator in a closed chamber empty of his supporters and journalists who had thronged the courtroom to cover the hearing.
By 2pm when there was no news about Sunday Igboho, some of his supporters became agitated and started chastising the few journalists on the ground who were busy taking pictures. Some journalists were not lucky as their electronic midgets were seized. These were returned only after the intervention of security officials stationed inside the court premises. One of the men inside the court premises even walked up to the Nigerian Tribune correspondent and said, “If we get a favourable verdict, you will enjoy our company. However, if the verdict is the other way round, don’t come near us.”
Interest outside Nigeria
While the major chunk of Chief Sunday Igboho’s supporters were Nigerians who had crossed the border to witness the trial, a sizeable number of Beninese of Yoruba descent also flooded the court premises to witness the trial.
Speaking to Nigerian Tribune inside the court premises, a Benin Republic national, Waheed Mulero, explained that some of his friends, along wife him were in court because Igboho’s cause also concerns them.
According to Mulero who speaks Yoruba fluently, “I am from a Yoruba-speaking part of Benin Republic and for most of us, Sunday Igboho is fighting for a Yoruba cause.
As Yoruba living outside Nigeria, what Chief Sunday Igboho is fighting for also affects us because we are Yoruba.”
There were also interests in the matter around Igolo, the Benin Republic section of its border with Nigeria. As the Nigerian Tribune correspondent made efforts to board a vehicle going to Cotonou, many Beninise of Yoruba stock were seen jeering any Nigerian heading for Cotonou.
Fears over proper trial The manner in which Igboho was tried on Monday left many wondering whether the Yoruba Nation agitator would get a fair trial.
For some of Igboho’s supporters, if the Benin Republic government does not have anything up its sleeve, why try the man behind closed doors?
For Prophet S.O.A Adeduntan who claims to be a prince from Ilorin, “I really don’t understand why the trial is now being held behind closed doors. If the Benin Republic government claims to be as fair as they have been claiming, they don’t need to subject the man to a secret trial. We all came here early in the morning to witness whatever trial they planned to give the man, only for security officials to bar us from going into the courtroom.
“Even if they won’t let everybody go in due to COVID-19 restrictions, they ought to have allowed a few of us and maybe some journalists to witness the trial if they don’t have a hidden agenda. We were initially sitting along the corridors of the court upstairs, and suddenly, the security officials came to chase us out of the court. That was around 6pm. They asked us to leave the court premises and even walked us out of the street leading to the court into the main express way.
“It seems they don’t know the calibre of the person that they have in their custody.
Because if they know, then they won’t expect his court trial to take place without being witnessed by the people he is fighting for. Some Yoruba traditional rulers are here to show support. Even some traditionalists who have not met Chief Sunday Igboho are here to show support because they know the magnitude of what he is agitating for.
“Not allowing people to witness the trial, to me, is a dent on the entire court process.
If the judgment ends up being unfavourable, people will blame the Benin Republic government for not giving the man a fair trial because the court processes were not done in the open.”
No end in sight
As of 7:30 pm when this reporter was leaving the court environment, the large crowd which had thinned out of the court premises was seen standing and clustering on the culverts demarcating the expressway that passes by the fence of the High Court.
For many, they won’t back down until a favourable verdict is handed out to the Yoruba Nation agitator. “We are still here.
Even if the trial will continue all through the night, we will sleep on the road. Whatever wants to happen to Chief Sunday Igboho should happen in our presence. We won’t let them take advantage of the man,” one of the supporters of Igboho who was among the crowd along the highway was overheard talking in a gathering.
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