The Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE) has called President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led federal government to create an enabling environment for the return of all involuntary exiles.
The Yoruba elders spoke in a communique on Saturday signed by YCE scribe Elder Oladipo Oyewole and Publicity Secretary Elder Niyi Ajibulu at the end of the council’s meeting of the Secretary-General and state secretaries, which was held in Ado Ekiti.
The council disclosed that those in exile include “the personages of Professor Banji Akintoye and Chief Sunday Igboho.”
The elders stated that Akintoye and Igboho were harassed for advocating proper and dignified treatment of their law-abiding kinsmen.
They also tackled former president Olusegun Obasanjo for embarrassing some traditional rulers in Oyo State last week, stressing that the former president “should certainly apologise and make restitution.”
The elders stated, “The YCE takes exception to the humiliation recently meted out to various traditional rulers of Oyo State by Chief Obasanjo upon the claim of status as a former Head of State. This malfeasance constitutes a shameful affront to the dignity of Yoruba tradition and culture and thus stand condemned.”
Meanwhile, the Yoruba elders called on the federal government to reaffirm its responsibility to provide equal protection to all citizens and constituent groups.
