OMOYELE Sowore, a Human Rights activist and publisher of Sahara Protesters, has alleged that a businessman close to the Muhammadu Buhari administration is plotting to assassinate him, adding that top officials of the Nigerian government are involved in the plot.
Sowore said this in a series of tweets on his official Twitter profile on Wednesday, stating that it is in connection with the ENDSARS protests.
“The plot against me has been on for weeks now, and I’ve been aware until the signal sent to security agencies leaked tonight. The is a businessman linked with the @mbuhari regime who’s threatened me for weeks unending since #endsars started,” Sowore said.
According to Sowore, Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the federation, Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, Chief of Staff to Muhammadu Buhari are involved in the plot.
He added that Godwin Emefiele, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is ‘bankrolling’ the alleged assassination plot.
Sowore stated that on Tuesday, Malami approached a Court in the Federal Capital Territory headed by Justice AB Muhammed to obtain an ex-parte order against him and the Sahara Reporters.
The activist said Malami approached the court in order to make his assassination seem ‘civil and pretend he was not a part of the assassination squad’.
He further wrote that while protesting at the National Assembly last Friday, the Police team dispatched to the Assembly opened fire on him and stole one of his vehicles.
“They refused to return it even it was meant for press duties, the FCT Police Commissioner, Bala Ciroma told me the car committed a crime and will be charged.
Over the week their minions wrote press releases, letters to foreign embassies,
“TheNationNews was generous in claiming some “Genuine EndSars” people want me arrested. The Nigerian army had a team of Twitter influencers on Sunday suggesting I should be assassinated,” He tweeted.
In 2019, Sowore was illegally abducted and detained by operatives of the State Security Service (SSS) for staging the RevolutionNow protest calling for an end to bad governance in Nigeria.
After his illegal detention, he was arraigned in court on charges bordering on money laundering, treasonable felony and cyberstalking Nigeria President, Muhammadu Buhari.
Meanwhile, there has been a clampdown on the ENDSARS protests by the Nigerian government including illegal freezing of bank accounts and accusation of terrorism-related activities.
The former chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) also said that eyewitnesses of the shooting and killings of peaceful ENDSARS protesters on Tuesday, 20 October were being threatened by agents of the Lagos state government.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has also frozen the bank accounts of 20 ENDSARS campaigners’ days before seeking the order of an FCT high court.
In further victimization of supporters of the ENDSARS protests, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) also withheld the International passport of Modupe Odele aka Mochievous, a lawyer who provided free legal services to arrested ENDSARS protesters for several days before it was returned. The NIS violated sections of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, The ICIR had reported.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94