Yoruba Nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has met with Yoruba Islamic scholars in Ibadan, Oyo State, to address concerns surrounding the activities and proposed operations of his Iru Ekun Security Network.
The meeting, reportedly held on September 27, 2026, was hosted by the Asiwaju Adinni of Yorubaland, Alhaji Mutiu Oladejo Onimalu, and attended by Islamic scholars including the Grand Chief Imam of Sepeteri Land, Imam (Engr.) AbdulHakeem Raji, and Mallam Yusuf Adepoju, a lecturer with the Academy of Islamic Propagation.
The Islamic leaders reportedly sought clarification on whether Iru Ekun was established to target Muslims or any particular ethnic or religious group. Igboho reportedly rejected such an interpretation, stressing that the security initiative was not created to fight Islam or any other religion.
According to reports from the meeting, he said Iru Ekun was established to contribute to the security of communities and should not be used as a platform for religious or ethnic attacks. “Iru Ekun is not for one particular religion,” Igboho reportedly said, while warning members against interfering with Hausa, Fulani, Igbo or other Nigerians who are legitimately conducting their businesses.
He reportedly emphasised that the network’s concern was the security of the land and the protection of communities from criminal activities. The clarification follows earlier controversies surrounding the security outfit and concerns over how its members might exercise their authority.
Igboho has previously dismissed claims that Iru Ekun was established to target Fulani people. During the launch of the network’s Kwara chapter in July, he said the organisation’s target was criminals rather than people of a particular ethnicity. He also said that suspects who were unarmed should be handed over to the police, rather than being subjected to punishment outside the law.
At the Ibadan meeting, the Islamic scholars reportedly raised another concern: that some individuals could wrongly assume that membership of, or association with, Iru Ekun could shield them from legal consequences.
Igboho reportedly responded that no one should be above the law, stressing that anyone who commits an offence should face the appropriate legal process, irrespective of their relationship with Iru Ekun.The organisation was established as a community-based security initiative aimed at complementing the work of conventional security agencies in tackling kidnapping, banditry and other forms of violent crime.
Igboho has said the network is not intended to replace the police or military, but to support efforts to secure communities and forests where criminal groups are believed to operate.
Igboho has consequently continued to advocate greater community participation in security while maintaining that such efforts should operate within the framework of the law. The meeting with Islamic scholars therefore provided an opportunity to address concerns that the security initiative could become associated with religious or ethnic confrontation.