His response follows a statement attributed to the Director of Defence Media Operations, Maj Gen Edward Buba, who identified the Yoruba self-determination movement as a peace-threatening factor in the South-West zone.

Addressing defense correspondents in Abuja on Friday, Buba asserted that security threats varied across geopolitical zones, emphasizing that the primary threat in the South-West stemmed from Yoruba Nation agitators.

In a statement released in Ibadan, Oyo State, Igboho urged the Federal Government, led by President Bola Tinubu, to dismiss such security reports, terming them as a form of blackmail.

“We are conscious of the noble efforts of the Armed Forces of Nigeria to tackle terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other forms of criminalities. But we take exception to the wrong and baseless position of the Director of Defence Media Operations, Buba, for identifying the Yoruba Nation agitators as a major threat to the peace in the South-West.

“This is not only far from the truth but also a flimsy excuse, which showcased the failure of the military to tackle the menace of insecurity, which threatened the peace in Nigeria, most especially during the immediate past regime of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Apart from the ignoble and vicious attacks on some states in the North, most especially in the North-East, by the Boko Haram terrorists, bandits were controlling some local governments in some parts of the North during Buhari’s administration, collecting levies and other forms of revenues unhindered. The military could not do anything tangible to stop this act of threat against the territorial integrity of the nation.”

He alleged that rather than eliminate terrorists, the military “is chasing shadows and wrongfully accusing Yoruba Nation movement of threat to peace in the South-West.”

“This is just a figment of their own imagination, which should be ignored by discerning Nigerians and other relevant stakeholders,” he said.