Championing the Yoruba Nation cause, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has initiated legal action against the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, over alleged defamation.
Represented by his legal team led by J. A. Sanusi, Igboho brought Adams before the Oyo High Court in Ibadan.
Seeking redress, the separatist leader requested the court to grant him N500 million in damages for what he described as defamatory remarks made by Adams against him.
In an audio recording from 2021, Igboho claimed that Adams had falsely accused him of being a notorious assassin hired by prominent politicians, including President Bola Tinubu.
Among the relief sought, Igboho demanded “exemplary and aggravated damages amounting to Five Hundred Million Naira (N500,000,000.00) as compensation for the defamation of his character by the Defendant. Additionally, he requested litigation costs of Ten Million Naira (N10,000,000.00).”
As per the court documents filed by Sanusi, Adams was quoted as saying, “I was not against Igboho until he became close to Tinubu. You know I get my information from different angles as Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland.
“He was with Lagos State Governor’s Chief of Staff, Tayo Ayinde, yesternight from the information at my disposal. He left Tayo Ayinde around 2.45 am and you know Tinubu uses him (Tayo Ayinde) to coordinate criminal activities. He was compensated with the position of Chief of Staff.
“He was a former SSS (State Security Service) product. He was given money to recruit some criminals. Politicians use him (Sunday Igboho) to attack people…. Tinubu will not show himself. He will call the line of the Chief of Staff.
“Tinubu gave them fifty million but Tayo Ayinde took five million out of the money. He gave Sunday forty-five million naira. Do not believe him, he said Tinubu should come and be President.
“I do not know why people in the Diaspora believed in him (Sunday Igboho). Do not believe him at all. He collects money everywhere as a politician. He is cunning and a fraud. He only uses social media to bring support to himself… Sunday asked the media to lie against me. He supports me openly and goes against me behind my back. Do not support him. He is unreliable.
“Tinubu already promised to give him a house in Lekki and N200 million. He is only an entertainer. Tinubu was using Sunday to get a ticket from Buhari. Tinubu is the one using Sunday. He is the most dangerous person in Oyo State.
“I am not talking of Lagos. If he sees money, there is no one he cannot kill. From the confirmed report, even though I am not sure, he was one of those who assassinated Bola Ige together with Fryo. He left Lagos 2:45 am after he collected 45,000,000 naira. Tinubu asked 10 million boys to join forces with Sunday to eliminate me…. Sunday has countless murder cases where he was able to exonerate himself.
“Some of his boys are presently in prisons standing trial for different murder cases. Some of his boys were already sentenced to life imprisonment. He used political power to exonerate himself.”
Refuting these accusations, Igboho urged the court to classify the contents of the audio clip as damaging to his reputation.
The legal team representing the Yoruba Nation advocate argued that it was “unlawful, inappropriate, and inexcusable for the Defendant (Gani Adams) to tarnish, disparage, and undermine the character and reputation of the Claimant through an audio clip disseminated across various online platforms, including YouTube, featuring a conversation between the Defendant and a third party, Mr. Nuru Banjo, around November 2021.”
They also requested a court order “compelling the Defendant to publicly retract the defamatory content contained in the publication to Nuru Banjo, which was subsequently disseminated on various online platforms including YouTube, where the Claimant was defamed, denigrated, and disparaged by the Defendant during the conversation in November 2021.”