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Yoruba Nation Agitator, Igboho May Know Fate On Asylum Request To Benin Republic This Week—Lawyer

The legal team of Igboho has been considering different options to get him out of a detention facility in Cotonou without being repatriated to Nigeria.

Ibrahim Salami, the Benin Republic-based lawyer to the Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho has said there are strong indications that the Benin Republic will grant his client an asylum this week. 

The legal practitioner said the Beninese government arrested the rights activist on the order of its Nigerian counterpart, insisting that there is no proof that his client is a criminal.

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According to The Punch, the bail application for Igboho was deferred by his lawyers because of his medical report and the probable result of his asylum application among others.

The legal team of Igboho has been considering different options to get him out of a detention facility in Cotonou without being repatriated to Nigeria.

Igboho and his wife were arrested on Monday, July 19, 2021, by the International Criminal Police Organisation at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou, in the Republic of Benin on their way to Germany. Ropo was later released.

This was after the DSS invaded his house in Ibadan and declared him wanted for allegedly being in possession of arms.

When he was re-arraigned last Monday, fresh charges were levelled against the 48-year-old activist, who was also returned to a new detention facility.

The Coordinating counsel for Igboho, Olasupo Ojo, said he had yet to get any official report on his asylum.

Asked if Igboho had been granted asylum, he said, “I have not got any official report in relation to that.”

“Yes, we are expecting feedback this week,” he added when asked if Igboho’s asylum application feedback may be out this week.

Also, the spokesperson for Ilana Omo Oduduwa, Maxwell Adeleye, said the organisation is expecting a positive response.

“We have submitted an application and we are hoping to get a positive response before the end of the week,” he told the newspaper.

In his response to the asylum application, Salami had explained that charges against Igboho would be neutralised if the asylum was granted.

He disclosed this while explaining that Igboho was not arrested for possessing a Benin Republic passport despite not being a citizen.

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