Yoruba activist Sunday Igboho is back in the headlines after dropping a two-hour ultimatum in his hometown of Igboho, Oyo State.
A video from June 20 shows him warning Fulani residents they have just two hours to produce abducted family members or face consequences.
The clip exploded on X and WhatsApp and other social media platforms pulling over 700K views in a day and dragging Nigeria back into a messy argument about insecurity, self-help justice, and ethnic blame.
The Warning That Went Viral
Igboho spoke inside what looked like a palace hall, surrounded by community members. He didn’t mince words.
According to reports and videos shared by Oyo Matters and Oyo Affairs, he told Fulani leaders: “I will enter your household and kill everybody. You can’t be kidnapping people in my hometown. I am Sunday Igboho, and I am from this hometown.”
Another video posted by Vox Yoruba captured him being more specific about the trigger. He accused “bandits of your ethnic group” of kidnapping a pregnant woman in Igboho, killing her and the man who went to pay ransom. “They always kidnap Yoruba and not their fellow Fulani,” he said, before giving the two-hour deadline and adding, “We know that the bandits are your children.”
Oyo Affairs later summarized the moment for readers who missed the livestream: Igboho gave Fulani residents in Igboho Oke-Ogun two hours to bring out the abducted victims or he would “wipe off all Fulani people living in the community.” The post was timestamped 2:41pm on June 20 and racked up hundreds of reposts and quotes before nightfall.
The Pain Behind The Outburst
This didn’t happen in a vacuum. For over a month, a school principal, teachers and several pupils from an Igboho school have been held somewhere inside Old Oyo National Park Reserve. The forest has become a kidnapping corridor, and families say ransom demands keep changing while government rescue efforts stall.
The frustration is everywhere online. User Ugbede posted photos of children lying on bare ground with the caption: “Please let us not forget to keep speaking about the oyo Teachers and kids. This is not fair, over one month in the hands of Islamic terrorists.”
Onuoha Lorenzo added, “Only God knows what the abductors are planning to do with them.”
FaddyK summed up what many Yoruba people are feeling: “Wait oh, wait a minute! Is this how the kidnapped principal, teachers and children at that oyo school will grow old in the forest? And everywhere is quiet all of a sudden.” Her tweet pulled 2.8K reposts because it hit a nerve – people are tired of waiting.
Pushback: “You Can’t Threaten An Entire Group”
As expected, Igboho’s words drew heavy fire. Critics accused him of ethnic profiling and acting like judge and jury.
Daniel Regha was one of the loudest voices pushing back. He said Igboho has every right to raise alarm since government has failed woefully on security, but drawing a line against all Fulani people is wrong. “Giving an ultimatum to Fulani leaders when there’s no proof of them being culprits is wrong. Unless there’s valid proof, you don’t go around making threats,” he wrote. The tweet got 669 comments and 113K views.
Hidima, Ph.D. went harder, calling Igboho an “idiot” who doesn’t have a monopoly on violence.
He argued that law-abiding Fulani residents shouldn’t be threatened just because of their ethnicity, and tagged the Nigeria Police and DSS to take note.
He also reminded people that some of those arrested for kidnapping Adelabu’s sister were Yoruba, so crime should be treated as crime, not ethnicity.
Kachalla Usmanu labeled Igboho “a Yoruba terrorist sponsored by politicians in the Southwest” and said he belongs in prison like Nnamdi Kanu.
Abiola Oshodi captured the general fatigue: “Sunday Igboho and these his endless ultimatums again. Every time it’s two hours, 24 hours, final warning. Abeg, we’re tired. Kidnappers don’t fear press conferences. If you have the capacity to deal with them, do it. If not, stop all this movie trailer talk. People want results.”
Did It Work? Celebration In Igboho
The twist came later that evening. Oyo Affairs posted an update saying there was celebration in Igboho town after kidnapped victims were released following the two-hour ultimatum.
If that’s true, it means Igboho’s pressure forced movement where weeks of official silence hadn’t. That’s what makes this story uncomfortable.
On one hand, families want their children back by any means. On the other, Nigeria has laws, and threatening an entire ethnic group opens the door to reprisals and more chaos.
For now, the focus is back on Old Oyo National Park Reserve. How did it become a safe zone for kidnappers? Why are communities forced to negotiate while security agencies are reportedly “monitoring the situation”?
Igboho’s supporters say he’s a defender who fills the vacuum left by government failure. His critics say he’s reckless and his methods will only breed more violence.
Both sides agree on one thing: the people of Igboho have suffered enough. Until the forest is cleared and arrests are made, expect more ultimatums, more viral videos, and more debate about where desperation ends and the rule of law begins.
For the teachers and children still recovering, the only thing that matters right now is that they’re alive. For the rest of Nigeria, the question is what happens next time.
