Yoruba Nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, widely known as Sunday Igboho, has recounted his narrow escape during the July 2021 raid on his Ibadan residence by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Speaking to a visiting delegation of Muslim clerics at his residence, Igboho revealed that he remained inside the house for the entire duration of the raid without being spotted. He explained that a prayer session held by local clerics to avert a premonition of danger ultimately saved his life. He also dismissed persistent rumours that he possessed supernatural abilities.
“I didn’t turn into a cat,” Igboho clarified. “They even killed it, thinking it was me. They even brought a fake herbalist who was just making an incantation and performing a ritual. I was in the house watching them, but they didn’t see me.”
Igboho recalled how the armed officers breached his compound using explosives and began firing indiscriminately during a midnight assault. He admitted feeling conflicted about whether to surrender, fearing he would be killed if he gave up.
According to Igboho, the raid escalated as officers forced entry into his living quarters. “When they entered and were screaming that I opened the door, they pointed a gun at Dudu (my personal assistant)’s head,” he noted, refuting claims that he was wounded during the encounter. He added that the operatives shot a partially blind relative who had stepped outside, subsequently taking the bodies away as evidence of the operation.
The violent raid on Igboho’s Soka residence took place on 1 July 2021, marking a climax in the lengthy standoff between the activist and the federal government under former President Muhammadu Buhari.