EXCLUSIVE: 'Sunday Igboho Was Misinformed, Fulanis Weren't Responsible For Aborode's Death' - Late PDP Chieftain’s Relative

A relative of slain Dr Fatai Aborode, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State has told AllNews that rights activist, Sunday Adeniyi Adeyemo, widely known as 'Sunday Igboho' "was misinformed" about those responsible for the death of the large-scale farmer.

AllNews gathered that the PDP chieftain was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kunfayakun Green Treasures Limited, and was the House of Representatives candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 2015.

AllNews recalls that Aborode was killed in his farm along Apodun road, Igangan in Ibarapa North Local Government Area of the state last December. His killing became the focal point to justify the eviction of the head of the Fulani community, the Sarkin Fulani, Abdulkadir Salihu; his kinsmen, and other criminal herdsmen in Nigeria's South-West region, a quit notice orchestrated by Sunday Igboho.

Our source, Dr Aborode's family member, who choose to remain anonymous told us: "It's not Sunday Igboho's fault actually, he was misinformed.

"Dr. Aborode's death was politically-motivated. But they kept shouting Fulani Fulani.

"Ṣùgbọ́n Brother Sunday ti fariga lórí oro awon Fulani (But Brother Sunday Igboho was determined to send Fulanis away due to the multiple worrying reports he has received about them).

"We have a arrested a suspect already - a Yoruba.

"The Late Dr. Aborode's manager has been arrested for over two weeks now.

"So they arrested another person, he's a politician [AllNews later established the name of the suspect to be Pa Olawuwo].

"They used N5 million to bail him out after three days. But he was arrested today (Thursday) again."

Last month, Seyi Makinde, the Governor of Oyo State expressed dissatisfaction with the way the police were handling investigation into the murder of Dr Aborode.

The governor had said that the father of Aborode told him that his son’s death had political undertone.

Speaking in an interview on BCOS at the time, Makinde expressed his surprise that the police did not arrest and interrogate some persons who were present when hoodlums killed Aborode on the day the unfortunate incident happened.

Makinde said he visited Aborode’s father during his visit to Igangan to assess the security situation in the town and other areas in Ibarapaland.

“Oyo State is not a jungle, we must find a way to get to the root of the matter (Aborode’s killing).

"I went to Ibarapa and I slept over to know what the situation was. I went to Dr Aborode’s biological father and some of the things we found out were that the death was also caused by failure of intelligence.

“Everybody said Fulani killed Dr Aborode but when I went to his father, he said what happened had political undertone.

"He also told me that Dr Aborode did not drive himself to the farm (on the day he was killed), he was taken on a bike by somebody.

"When they were coming back from the farm, those who killed him picked him from the motorcycle and the rider left the motorcycle and came home to seek for help. But there was no single scratch on his body, he was not even pinched.

“Some persons were also coming from the farm who were also stopped and these ones heard the conversations between Dr Aborode and those who killed him.

"I asked where are those people and they said they were in Igangan with the person who carried him in the motorcycle," Governor Makinde had said.

READ ALSO: 'Yorubas Are No Longer Under Nigeria' - Sunday Igboho [VIDEO]

Police confirm arrest

In a similar vein, Oyo State Police command has confirmed the arrest of 80-year-old chieftain of the PDP in Igangan, simply identified as Pa Olawuwo, over the killing of Dr Aborode.

Olawuwo was arrested and taken the State Criminal Investigation Department Iyaganku in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The octogenarian politician and Aborode were from the same constituency and some of his followers who went to where he was detained were not allowed to see him.

Olugbenga Fadeyi, the Police Public Relations Officer in Oyo State confirmed his arrest to AllNews on Friday.

"Yes, we have arrested him. He [Pa Olawuwo] has been charged, his case is in court," Fadeyi said to AllNews.