Embattled Yoruba Nation agitator, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, is reportedly seeking asylum in the Republic of Benin.
It was gathered that Igboho turned to the option after he was arrested by the International Criminal Police Organisation at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou, Republic of Benin.
VAM News recalls that Igboho and his wife, Ropo, were arrested at the Cardinal Bernardin International Airport, Cotonou on Monday night while trying to catch a flight to Germany.
The 48-year-old activist, who is spending his first weekend in a police cell in Cotonou is being tried for migration-related issues after he was allegedly caught with a fake Beninese passport.
According to PUNCH, a source familiar with the matter revealed that, “He (Igboho) was already at the airport with a passport. The immigration officers suspected his passport to be fake and so they stopped him. A passport was allegedly forged for Igboho in the Benin Republic for the purpose of the Germany trip. At the airport, they discovered he was the one.”
The source, who craved anonymity, however, added that although an application had been filed for Igboho as a political refugee in Germany, processes had also been completed to file another application for asylum for him in Benin Republic.
“Igboho has already applied for asylum in Germany and he hopes to file a similar application in Benin Republic in the coming days.”
The source also said that there was the possibility that the Beninese Government would drop the migration-related offences brought against Igboho over alleged forgery of passport.
The leader of Igboho’s legal team, Yomi Alliyu (SAN), had also in a statement noted that his client could not be extradited because the 1984 Extradition Treaty between Nigeria, Benin and two other countries excluded political refugees like Igboho.
