IBADAN — Yoruba activist Chief Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has officially returned to Nigeria, ending nearly five years of self-imposed exile and legal detention.
His return on Monday, January 26, 2026, follows a decisive executive intervention by President Bola Tinubu to remove the activist from the federal government’s “wanted list.” Igboho’s spokesperson, Olayomi Koiki, confirmed that the activist is currently en route to the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Ladoja, to pay homage to the monarch who spearheaded the diplomatic efforts for his repatriation.
The breakthrough is the result of months of “royal diplomacy” involving prominent South-West traditional rulers, including the Ooni of Ife and the Olugbon of Orile Igbon. These monarchs successfully persuaded the President to grant Igboho unrestricted freedom as a gesture of regional reconciliation. Igboho’s legal ordeal began in July 2021, following a violent raid on his Ibadan residence by the Department of State Services (DSS) during his campaign against armed herdsmen. After his subsequent arrest and release in Benin Republic, he remained in exile until this recent federal clearance.
The Contrast with Nnamdi Kanu
Igboho’s seamless return and the restoration of his travel documents have sparked renewed debate over the “selective magnanimity” of the Federal Government. Human rights lawyers and pro-Biafra groups have pointed to the stark contrast between the treatment of the Yoruba activist and the ongoing incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
While Igboho was removed from the wanted list and allowed a hero’s welcome, Kanu remains in the custody of the DSS in Abuja, despite numerous court rulings—including those from the Court of Appeal and the ECOWAS Court—ordering his release. Both men were originally targeted for their self-determination agitations; however, while the government has opted for a political solution with Igboho, it continues to pursue a rigorous judicial path against Kanu, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on terrorism-related charges by Justice James Omotosho in late 2025.
“Chief Sunday Igboho is now a free man,” Koiki stated, expressing gratitude to President Tinubu for the act of magnanimity. However, political analysts warn that the perceived disparity in the handling of the two activists may deepen feelings of marginalization in the South-East as the 2027 election cycle gathers momentum. As of Monday afternoon, crowds have gathered at the Olubadan palace to witness a return that marks a dramatic, if controversial, conclusion to Igboho’s long exile.
