Yoruba Nation activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has formally inaugurated the Ogun State chapter of the Iru Ekun Security Network, a community-based security initiative aimed at supporting efforts to combat crime across the South-West.
The launch, held on Wednesday, attracted a large gathering of supporters and volunteers, with videos and photographs from the event showing hundreds of participants dressed in matching black outfits and caps.
Speaking at the inauguration, Igboho outlined plans for the organisation’s training, deployment and identification, while warning members against indiscipline and reckless conduct.
“You must have discipline. Do not engage in reckless behaviour or ruin things just because they have trained you and you have ID card,” he told the gathering.
According to the activist, the federal government would determine the agency or body responsible for training members of the security network, while the Ogun State Governor’s Office would determine their areas of deployment.
“Federal Government will decide who will come and train us. The Governor’s Office will tell us where they will place us,” he said.
Igboho added that members would receive identification cards after completing their training, with the process to be handled at the local government level.
“As they wrap up that training, every person will be issued an ID card at the local government level,” he said.
He also disclosed that the Ogun State Government had assured the group of its support and would determine a monthly allowance for members.
“The governor has also assured us. 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,” Igboho said.
He explained that one of the broader objectives was to secure official identification for members across the South-West, allowing them to operate within a recognised framework while supporting their families and contributing to efforts to maintain order.
Igboho compared the initiative with the evolution of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), recalling how the organisation began at the community level before becoming a nationwide federal security institution.
“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,” he said.
The launch footage showed participants gathered under tents and along busy streets, with several attendees using their mobile phones to record the proceedings.
Iru Ekun, which means “leopard’s tail” in Yoruba, was founded by Igboho as a community-based security initiative intended to complement efforts against kidnapping, banditry and other criminal activities in the South-West.
The Ogun State inauguration is part of the wider expansion of the initiative, following earlier launches in other states across the region.
