WHO IS SUNDAY IGBOHO?
Sunday Igboho, as he is popularly known, was born Sunday Adeniyi Adeyemo on October 10, 1972 in Igboho, a town in Oke-Ogun area of Oyo State. He is a politician, businessman and influential citizen mobilizer. In January 2021, he made headlines online when he gave Fulani herdsmen in Ibarapa a week-long ultimatum to return their land following the killing of Dr. Aborode to vacate.
BACKGROUND OF THE IFE-MODAKEKE WAR
The Ife-Modakeke War/Conflict, which lasted through the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, is the oldest inter-ethnic conflict in Yorubaland and Nigeria as a whole. The indigenous people of Ife and Modakeke belong to the Yoruba ethnic group; The two communities’ sociocultural and political systems are similar and their geographical distribution largely overlaps, although they have been embroiled in a protracted conflict for over a century. In Ile-Ife, Modakeke residents are generally considered foreigners, squatters and migrants. The history of the Modakeke is that they migrated to Ife and settled there after the fall of the old Oyo Empire in the 19th century. This created two distinct groups of people: the first settlers and landowners (Ife) and the migrants/squatters/refugees (Modakeke).These categorizations are remote causes of conflict between the two groups. There were seven large wars between IFE and Modakeke, namely 1835–1849, 1882–1909, 1946–1949, 1983, 1997–1998 and 2000.
Participation of the Sunday Igboho in the IFE-MODAKEKE WAR.
1997–1998 we go In 1997, another war broke out between the two communities, leaving many people missing and killed. This conflict, which lasted until 1998, is one of many conflicts that have affected the two communities. At that time, Sunday Igboho was living in Modakeke.In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, he said: “I have been in Modakeke since 1985; There I learned my profession, got married and had children. During this conflict, we met Sunday Igboho, who previously worked as a motorcycle repair mechanic. When asked about his role in the Ife-Modakeke crisis, Sunday Igboho said: “That is where people met me and I don’t think I should be blamed for that.” If someone says, “Why did I say; that I have never killed before” and refers to the Ife-Modakeke crisis, that would be unfair because it was a war. “The person who wanted to kill me and destroyed my property is determined to kill me. So if someone kills in my defense, I don’t consider it a crime.”God forgive us, but it would be unfair for someone to judge me based on this story if they don’t know all the details.
“I was living in Modakeke and the people of Ile-Ife said they wanted to drive them off their land. These people spent their entire lives here. How can you suddenly stand up and send them away? My father lived there and built a house there; I lived there. So I had to stand up to defend my home.» “During this crisis our house burned down. So am I supposed to sit back while my dad’s house burns and lose everything? People just shout: “Sunday Igboho, Sunday Igboho: who can say that they have seen me in a public fight?” » After the conflict ended in 1998, another conflict broke out in 2000, in which Within three days more than ten people died and 50 were missing. The killings continued until President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed a commission headed by Olabode George to investigate the crisis in the community.