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May 28, 2023
The police in Oyo State, southwest Nigeria, have arrested five of the Yoruba Nation agitators who hijacked a government-owned radio station in Ibadan on Sunday.
Amuludun 99.1 FM, one of the stations owned and managed by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) or Radio Nigeria, was hijacked early Sunday morning by the agitators, who reportedly took control of transmission for about one hour.
A source told SaharaReporters on Sunday morning that the individuals identified as Yoruba Nation agitators arrived at the station around 5 am, pretending that they wanted to make some enquiries.
“They gained access to the station by pretending that they wanted to make some enquiries. When they entered, they told the people there that they wanted to air their views but that was denied.
“That was when they brought out charms and threatened the workers. Then they started making some announcements, saying in Yoruba that the people who sent them to take some actions should come out. They said after asking them to do those things, they abandoned them.
“They were there for about one hour before the police came to disrupt their plan. Normalcy has returned to the area and some of them were arrested,” the source said.
However, the state police commissioner, Adebowale Williams, disclosed later on Sunday that the agitators forcibly hijacked the station to declare freedom of the Yoruba Nation from Nigeria.
But according to him, the police command swiftly restored calm and arrested the suspects.
Williams described the action of the agitators as criminal and an act of terrorism.
He said the people behind the group would be found and unveiled by the police.
Amuludun FM is a community station located at Moniya, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. It was established on October 10, 2007, and commenced transmission on October 22, 2007. Its programmes are in Yoruba language.