Dupe Onitiri-Abiola, the woman behind the Yoruba nation activists who attacked the Oyo state government House last week is on the run.
The magazine learnt that Dupe, a widow of late business mogul, Moshood Abiola had a dialogue with her legs after security agencies in the country launched a manhunt for her.
Recall that MKO Abiola died on July 1998 after he failed to realised his presidential mandate which had earlier been annulled by former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida.
The magazine reports that the secessionist group under her leadership attacked the state Secretariat and the House of Assembly with dangerous weapons, hoisted their flag after removing the Nigerian flag before they were eventually overpowered by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies.
Following the attack on the Government House, Onitiri-Abiola had made a broadcast claiming responsibility. She also declared the independence of the Democratic Republic of Yoruba, DRY.
“We are Indigenous people, we’re sovereign people, we’re ethnic nationalists. We’ve decided to secede from Nigeria on November 20, 2022. And today, April 12, 2024, we decided to finally leave Nigeria.
“I, Modupe Onitiri Abiola, proclaimed the sovereignty of the democratic republic of Yoruba today, Friday, April 14, 2024. From today henceforth, Yorubaland has commenced its own republic. By that virtue, it’s now become the newest nation in the world,” she stated on a broadcast shared on many social media platforms.
The incident had elicited wide condemnation across the country, particularly after Prof. Banji Akintoye and Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho, the mainstream leaders of Yoruba nation agitators said they were not part of the invasion of the Oyo state government.
Not a few Nigerians have blamed the attack on the failure of intelligence on the part of security agencies for the attack, wondering how a rag-tag secessionist group was able to infiltrate the state without their knowledge.
They wonder could have happened if the mainstream group under the leadership of Prof. Akintoye and Igboho had decided to be part of the attack.
“Governor Seyi Makinde should carry out a thorough investigation to ascertain the motive of the invasion, and the people behind it should be arrested and prosecuted,” Igboho said in a statement after the invasion.
In his reaction Akintoye said “the struggle for Yoruba Nation started in 2019 when the group of Yoruba people gathered in Ibadan and asked me to come and be their leader. It took me over a month before I accepted after I did a research over their demand and I see that it tandem with what Yoruba needs.
“And we all agreed that anything that we would do will be devoid of violence but peaceful process and legally outlined. So, this group that carried out today are not their members”.
The magazine learnt on Tuesday that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given security agencies a marching order to arrest those involved in the attack.
In compliance with the order, the Department of State Services, DSS, Nigerian Intelligence Agecny, NIA, and others have stepped up security across the south west in the quest to arrest Abiola-Onitiri and others who masterminded the invasion, The Source learned from close security sources in the country.
Following the attack on Sunday Igboho Ibadan home in July 2021 by the DSS, and his escape to Benin Republic, the activities of Yoruba Nation agitators have somehow minimised until the attack on Ibadan last week.
