- Yoruba nation activist Sunday Igboho formally launched the Ogun State chapter of the Iru Ekun Security Network on Wednesday, August 26
- Igboho said the Federal Government will determine who trains members, while the Ogun Governor’s Office will decide where they are deployed
- The Ogun launch follows earlier inaugurations of the same community security outfit in other South-West states
Yoruba nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, widely known as Sunday Igboho, formally launched the Ogun State chapter of the Iru Ekun Security Network on Wednesday, August 26, drawing thousands of supporters to the event.
Videos and photographs that circulated online showed hundreds of attendees, many dressed in matching black attire and caps, gathered under tents and along streets in a busy urban area, with many recording the proceedings on their phones.
Source: Twitter
Igboho outlines plans for the outfit
Speaking at the launch, Igboho laid out the structure, training arrangements and collaboration plans the group would operate under, and warned members against misconduct.
“You must have discipline. Do not engage in reckless behaviour or ruin things just because they have trained you and you have ID card,” he told the gathering.
On how the network would be managed, Igboho said oversight would come from the highest levels of government. “Federal Government will decide who will come and train us. The Governor’s Office tell us where they will place us. As they wrap up that training, every person will be issued an ID card at the local government level,” he said.
He also disclosed that the Ogun State Government had already given assurances of support, including the provision of a monthly allowance for members.
“The Governor has also given us assurance. They have given us support here, and they will decide what monthly allowance to provide to us, to support us, because we have wives, and we have children,” Igboho said.
Comparing the group to civil defence
The activist framed the broader ambition of the initiative as securing official recognition for members across the entire South-West, allowing them to operate legitimately and support their households while helping maintain public order.
Drawing a parallel with an existing federal body, Igboho said,
“This organisation we established, if we execute it properly — just like Civil Defence. They started at the market. We used to call them ‘Little Defence,’ but they did good work with what they were doing. The federal government have now fully established it across all of Nigeria.”
Iru Ekun, which translates to “leopard’s tail” in Yoruba, is a community-based security initiative Igboho founded to complement existing efforts against kidnapping, banditry and other crimes in the South-West region. The Ogun State inauguration follows similar launches already held in other states across the region.
Sunday Igboho shares details of 2021 DSS raid
Previously, Legit.ng Yoruba Nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, widely known as Sunday Igboho, broke his silence on the July 2021 raid on his home in Ibadan, claiming that Department of State Services (DSS) operatives shot and killed a cat during the operation after mistaking the animal for him.
Igboho said he was inside the house the entire time and watched the operatives conduct their search without being detected.
Source: Legit.ng