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Yoruba Nation Can Be Achieved Without Firing Bullet, Says Sunday Igboho

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Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has expressed optimism that Yoruba can achieve self-determination “without firing a bullet”.

He was quoted as saying this in a statement by one of his counsels, Chief Yomi Alliyu (SAN), on Thursday.

The Yoruba rights activist also called on his supporters, especially his kinsmen at home and in the diaspora to embrace dialogue in their quest for self-determination “without heating up the fragile situation” in Nigeria.

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Igboho said that he would continue to preach against war, considering the situation in Ukraine and some parts of the South-East in Nigeria.

He thanked all his supporters, leaders, and President of Republic of Benin, Patrice Talon, over his release from prison.

The statement read, “Sunday Adeyemo a.k.a Igboho Oosa thanked all that are supporting him, especially his leaders, Baba Prof. Akintoye and Baba Prof. Wale Adeniran and all Nigerians especially his people in Ilana Oodua and affiliates seeking self-determination.

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READ ALSO: Photos Of Sunday Igboho After Release From Prison In Benin

“He continues to preach against war seeing what is happening in Ukraine and some parts of Igboland in Nigeria. He implored all, especially his kinsmen at home and in the diaspora, to embrace dialogue in their quest for self-determination without heating up the very fragile situation in Nigeria.

“He believes that their ambition will be achieved without firing a bullet as he used to say at rallies.

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“He appreciates Chief Dele Momodu being the only Yorubaman of note that came to visit him in Cotonou prison. He remains grateful to the President of the Republic of Benin, President Talon, for releasing him from prison with a view to uniting him with members of his immediate family, albeit only in Cotonou for the time being.

“He assures all those in support of peaceful self-determination through a referendum that the struggle continues as he will not relent in his efforts in that regard.

“He pledged his eternal loyalty and respect to Chief Yomi Alliyu SAN who though an extreme Buharist and a nationalist who does not believe in balkanisation of Nigeria, exhibited extreme professionalism in taking up his case with DSS without a kobo and winning it with landmark award of #20.5billion dollars!”

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Igboho who fled the country to avoid arrest was on Monday, February 07, given a conditional release from prison in Benin Republic eight months after he was detained there.

Sunday Igboho had been detained in Benin’s commercial capital Cotonou on accusations of “criminal association”.

The Federal Government has reportedly been seeking his extradition since July 2021, when he fled following a raid on his home in the city of Ibadan.

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Department of State Services’ officials claimed they found military equipment and other weapons at the house.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Sunday Igboho Released From Prison On Two Conditions -Lawyer

Police at the time accused Igboho and his associates of planning to wage a violent insurrection against Nigeria.

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He was arrested in Benin while attempting to board a flight for Germany.

Igboho had demanded independence for the Yoruba people following violence he attributed to Fulani herders in his region.

PUNCH.

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FULL LIST: US To Review Green Cards From 19 ‘Countries Of Concern’ After Washington Shooting

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The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it will review the immigration status of all permanent residents, or “Green Card” holders, from Afghanistan and 18 other countries following the attack on National Guard troops in Washington, D.C.

U.S. officials identified the suspect in Wednesday’s shooting as a 29-year-old Afghan national who previously worked alongside American forces in Afghanistan.

The individual was granted asylum earlier this year, not permanent residency, according to AfghanEvac, an organisation that assists Afghans resettled in the United States after the Taliban takeover in 2021.

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I have directed a full-scale, rigorous reexamination of every Green Card for every alien from every country of concern,” said Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), on X.

READ ALSO:FG To Unveil Digital Single Travel Emergency Passport January

The review follows a June executive order from President Trump classifying 19 countries as “of Identified Concern.”

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The order banned entry for nearly all nationals from 12 countries, including Afghanistan. The full list of these countries is:

Afghanistan

Myanmar

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Chad

Congo-Brazzaville

Equatorial Guinea

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Eritrea

Haiti

READ ALSO:Coup: ECOWAS Suspends Guinea-Bissau

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Iran

Libya

Somalia

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Sudan

Yemen

A partial travel ban applies to seven additional countries, though some temporary work visas remain allowed: Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.

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Romanian Defence Minister Quits After Admitting Error In Academic Record

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Romania’s defence minister resigned on Friday after saying he made a “mistake” on his CV about his university education, as controversy swirled over alleged lies on his resume.

Ionut Mosteanu – who has admitted to writing on his CV that he graduated from a university he never attended – said he did not want the row “to distract” the NATO member at a time when it and Europe are “under attack from Russia”.

Romania has repeatedly seen drone fragments fall on its soil since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, and reported a number of drone incursions.

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On Tuesday, a drone crashed in eastern Romania, which borders Ukraine.

READ ALSO:Ukraine: 122,000 Nigerians, Others Protest Discrimination At Romanian, Hungarian, Polish Borders

Romania has also accused Moscow of “hybrid attacks”, including meddling in presidential elections last year that were subsequently annulled.

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Today, I resigned from my position as minister of national defence,” Mosteanu said in a Facebook post, adding he wanted the country to be focused on its “difficult mission”.

“Romania and Europe are under attack from Russia. Our national security must be defended at all costs,” he added.

Mosteanu had come under pressure after a media investigation published on Thursday revealed that he wrote in a CV that he graduated from a university which he did not actually attend.

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That same day he apologised for what he called “a mistake”.

“In a CV I quickly put together in 2016 using a template I found online, there is a mistake that I admit embarrasses me. I didn’t pay much attention to these details at the time,” he said on Facebook.

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Mosteanu was appointed defence minister in June of this year, when a new pro-European government was formed after months of political turmoil.

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan said in a press release that he would propose economy and tourism minister Radu Miruta take over the defence portfolio in the interim.

AFP

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Russia Insists Ukraine Must Cede Land Or Face Continued Military Push

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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that he would end his Ukraine offensive if Kyiv withdrew from territory Moscow claims at its own — otherwise his army would take it by force.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine in costly battles against outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces.

Washington has meanwhile renewed its push to end the nearly four-year war, putting forward a surprise plan that it hopes to finalise through upcoming talks with Moscow and Kyiv.

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“If Ukrainian forces leave the territories they hold, then we will stop combat operations,” Putin said during a visit to Kyrgyzstan. “If they don’t, then we will achieve it by military means.”

Russia controls around one-fifth of Ukraine’s territory. The issue of occupied land, which Kyiv has said it will never cede, is among the biggest stumbling blocks in the peace process.

READ ALSO:Putin Admits Russia Caused Azerbaijani Plane Crash

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Another important issue in the talks are Western security guarantees for Ukraine, which Kyiv says are needed to prevent Moscow from invading again in the future.

Washington’s original plan — drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies — would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

The US pared back the original plan over the weekend following criticism from Kyiv and Europe, but has not yet released the new version.

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Putin, who has seen the new plan, said it could be a negotiation starter.

Overall, we agree that it could form the basis for future agreements,” he said of the latest draft, which the US is thought to have shortened to about 20 points.

READ ALSO:Russian Strikes Kill Five In Ukraine, Cause Power Outages

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US negotiator Steve Witkoff was expected in Moscow next week to discuss the revised document, Putin said.

US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is meanwhile due to visit Kyiv later this week, Ukraine’s top presidential aide Andriy Yermak said.

– ‘Little can be done’ –

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In his remarks Thursday, Putin repeated the claim that Russia had encircled the Ukrainian army in Pokrovsk and Myrnograd in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region — the most fiercely embattled area and a key target for Moscow’s forces.

“Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov are completely surrounded,” he said, using the Russian names for the cities.

Moscow was also advancing in Vovchansk and Siversk, as well as approaching the important logistic hub of Guliaipole, he added.

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The Russian offensive “is practically impossible to hold back, so there is little that can be done about it”, Putin said.

READ ALSO:Trump Urged Ukraine To Give Up Land In Peace Deal Talks — Official

Ukraine has denied Pokrovsk and Myrnograd are encircled, insisting its forces continue to hold the enemy along the front line.

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Putin also questioned Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s legitimacy and said signing any agreement with him would be legally “almost impossible” at the moment, a suggestion that has drawn groans from Kyiv and its allies.

According to data analysed by AFP from the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Russian forces have conquered an average of 467 square kilometres (180 square miles) each month in 2025 — a step up from 2024.

Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering the worst armed conflict in Europe since World War II.

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The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee their homes.

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