Barely a month after celebrating his presidential pardon and triumphant return from exile, Yoruba Nation agitator Chief Sunday Adeyemo—widely known as Sunday Igboho—has once again thrown Ibadan into crisis. This time, his loyalists have turned their fury on real estate companies, sparking fear and uncertainty across the city’s business landscape.
In scenes reminiscent of his turbulent past, Igboho has been observed arriving at construction sites in a convoy of more than 15 vehicles, accompanied by armed supporters. Witnesses report that his men stormed projects unannounced, shutting down operations and demanding payments before work could resume. On Monday, one prominent development firm was forced to halt activities entirely as terrified staff fled, while Igboho issued stern warnings that companies must “pay up or pack up.”
What has sent shockwaves through Ibadan’s business community is Igboho’s repeated boast that he is operating with the full backing of no less a personality than the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja. Witnesses at the Monday invasion quoted him as brandishing the royal endorsement like a sledgehammer, daring anyone to challenge his authority while claiming that Oba Ladoja is his father and nobody can touch him in Ibadan, leaving many to wonder whether the revered first-class monarch is aware of the manner in which his name is being invoked to intimidate hardworking investors.
The irony is painfully stark because only weeks ago, Igboho was singing a different tune entirely, pleading with the Olubadan, Ooni of Ife, and Olugbon of Orile Igbon to secure his freedom from the presidency, expressing gratitude for their intervention, and promising to be a force for good upon his return. Yet, today he appears to have become the very insecurity he once condemned with his targets shifted from alleged criminal elements to law-abiding real estate developers creating jobs and building communities.
But the real estate sector is not taking this lying down as the company at the centre of Monday’s invasion has fired the first salvo in what promises to be a legal war, engaging the prestigious Afe Babalola law firm to seek urgent redress in court while their petition, which also heads to the Inspector General of Police, Oyo State Governor, National Assembly, and even the President’s office, alleges grave threats to life and demands that Igboho be restrained from further disruptions.
Legal experts confirm that the move signals a no-nonsense approach with the company insisting that business cannot be held hostage by anyone regardless of their political connections or previous notoriety. While some dismiss Igboho’s resurgence as mere grandstanding, others recall his shady antecedents, the thuggery, the terror, the bloody raid on his Ibadan home in 2021 that left three aides dead, and his dramatic flight into exile, making his threats impossible to ignore.
Community leaders and concerned citizens are now calling on Oba Ladoja to publicly disown whatever Igboho is doing in his name because the Olubadan is a respected institution and not a shield for intimidation, with one business owner fuming that if Igboho truly respects the monarch, he should stop dragging his revered stool into this mess.
With petitions mounting and the legal machinery grinding into action, the big question remains whether Sunday Igboho is testing the waters or this is the beginning of another dark chapter in Ibadan’s real estate landscape, and for now developers are watching their backs, workers are looking over their shoulders, and the ancient city holds its breath waiting to see whether the law will catch up with a man who once fled Nigeria under a hail of bullets only to return and allegedly unleash fresh hell on the very people trying to build it.
