Sunday Igboho Launches Iru Ekun Security Network in Ogun

Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo, known as Sunday Igboho, launched the Ogun State chapter of the Iru Ekun Security Network on Wednesday.

Videos and photos online showed a huge crowd of supporters at the event. Reports say thousands of volunteers joined in.

At the event, Igboho talked about plans for the group’s structure, training, and working with government officials. He emphasized that members need to be disciplined.

"You must have discipline. Do not engage in reckless behaviour or ruin things just because they have trained you and you have ID card," Igboho warned the crowd.

He mentioned that the Federal Government would choose who would train the group. The Ogun State Governor’s Office would decide where members would be sent.

"Federal Government will decide who will come and train us. The Governor’s Office tell us where they will place us. As they wrap up that training, every person will be issued an ID card at the local government level," he said.

Igboho shared that the state government had already promised support. He said the authorities would decide on a monthly allowance for members to help them care for their families.

"The Governor has also given us assurance. They have given us support here, and they will decide what monthly allowance to provide to us, to support us, because we have wives, and we have children," he explained.

He added that the main goal is to secure official identification cards across the South-West. This would help members operate legally, support their families, and maintain order.

Igboho compared the new group to the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. He said, "This organisation we established, if we execute it properly, just like Civil Defence. They started at the market. We used to call them ‘Little Defence,’ but they did good work with what they were doing. The federal government have now fully established it across all of Nigeria."

Footage from the launch showed hundreds of people, many wearing matching black clothes and caps, gathered in a busy area under tents and along the streets. Many were recording the event on their phones.

Iru Ekun means “leopard’s tail” in Yoruba. It is a community-based security initiative started by Igboho to help fight against kidnapping, banditry, and other crimes in the South-West.

The Ogun launch comes after similar events in other states in the region.