Igboho, who was arrested around 8pm on Monday by the International Criminal Police Organisation at the Cadjèhoun Airport in Cotonou, may be tried for immigration-related offences.
The activist and his wife, Ropo, were arrested at the airport when they wanted to catch a flight to Germany.
“He (Igboho) was arrested in Cotonou on Monday night while he tried to travel. He was already at the airport with a passport. The immigration officers suspected his passport and so they stopped him. In the process, they discovered he was the one,” a source familiar with the matter had told The Punch.
Many Yoruba-speaking supporters of the activist were seen on the court premises on Thursday afternoon.
The Nigerian secret police had raided his Soka area, Ibadan home, on July 1, arrested about 12 of his aides and killed two of his aides in an alleged gun duel, and arrested 12 others. Igboho was accused of stockpiling arms to destabilise Nigeria but he has denied the allegation.
The activist, who went underground after he was declared wanted, was, however, apprehended on Monday night in Cotonou. It was learnt that the Nigerian government had written the Interpol in the Francophone West African nation to hunt Igboho.
It was gathered that the Nigerian government planned to extradite the activist on Wednesday (yesterday) but Benin Republic insisted that it would not be part of any process that was against due process.
Also, Thisday reported that an inside source had on Wednesday night hinted that Igboho might be charged for passport-related reasons.
The source said, “Igboho may be arraigned for passport-related offences in Benin Republic tomorrow. His Nigerian lawyers are here already. Yoruba leaders in the Benin Republic have been supportive as well.”
It was gathered that some Yoruba living in and around Cotonou on Thursday thronged the court awaiting the commencement of the trial.
They demanded that Igboho should not be returned to Nigeria, saying that he had committed no offence.
