No fewer than 20 men, who claimed to be Yoruba nation agitators, were arrested on Saturday when they attempted to seize the Oyo House of Assembly complex.
While some of them manned the entrance of the governor’s office, the rest were seen at the entrance to the State House of Assembly gate and the main entrance, among others.
The situation sent shocks across the entire area. Also, the security operatives on duty at the secretariat had fired tear gas canisters to disperse them.
Officers of the state Police Command and other anti-crime agencies stormed the entrance to the Secretariat in numerous patrol vans.
Sporadic gunshots rent the air, sending panic among residents around the axis.
Motorists plying the route were said to have made a detour as many other road users scampered to safety. Road users en route to secretariat were diverted along Customs Junction as the Secretariat-Queen Elizabeth Road had been cut off traffic.
Soldiers swoop in
It was gathered that the efforts of the Executive Assistant to the Governor on Security, CP Sunday Odukoya (retired) to calm the situation upon the sighting the masked men were futile. They insisted on hoisting their flag in the Secretariat.
However, the arrival of troops from the 2 Division of the Nigerian Army about an hour later was said to have changed the narrative. They stormed the area and some of the agitators at the entrance gate took to their heels.
The hostile and stern-looking officers swooped in and went after the masked agitators. The main entrance of the state Secretariat was shut.
Shop owners, businesses and residents around Bodija, Ikolaba, en route to Awolowo were said to have quickly locked up their shops and doors. Others that were about to open for the day turned back.
Modupe Onitiri Abiola
Meanwhile, a middle-aged woman, Modupe Onitiri Abiola, in a video said she was speaking on behalf of someone.
She introduced herself as the widow of late Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola, the presumed winner of the 1993 presidential election cancelled by the then Military President, Ibrahim Babangida.
The woman, who spoke in Yoruba, was clad in a white blouse with a white headgear.
“We are organised people, we are sovereign people, and we will do things accordingly. We have decided to leave Nigeria and we have been there since November 2022.
“We are declaring this day that we are no longer part of this country. With the awesome power that God used to create the sky, seven clouds, the moon, and the stars. I, Modupe Onitiri Abiola, proclaim the Democratic Republic of Yoruba.
“Yoruba has become a Nation without any opposition. It is so, it is a declaration that God has caused us to stay. Yoruba today, 12 April 2024 begins as a sovereign nation; and will operate as a country.