“POLICE DIDN’T RESCUE ME, I SENT THEM MY LOCATION”: SOWORE ACCUSES EKITI POLICE OF MISREPRESENTING ATTACK

African Action Congress presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has accused the Ekiti State Police Command of misrepresenting how he escaped from armed men who pursued him during an attack in the state, insisting that police officers did not rescue him as claimed.

The Sowore Ekiti police rescue accusation was made on Sunday evening during a Global Emergency Zoom Meeting monitored by SaharaReporters, ValidViewNetwork reports.

THE ACCOUNT

Sowore said he contacted people for assistance, shared his location, and made arrangements to determine whether it was safe to leave the building where he had been hiding .

“Contrary to what the police is saying, that they rescued him, they didn’t rescue me. I was the one who sent them my location,” Sowore said .

He explained that after escaping from the initial scene of the attack, he lost his phone and had to rely on his smartwatch to communicate with people who could help him.

He eventually contacted an individual identified as Philip Otoko, informing him that he was safe but surrounded by the attackers.

Sowore said he remained inside a residential compound, hiding in the kitchen of an elderly woman for about 45 minutes—as armed men searched nearby houses for him.

He eventually provided his location to people who could help and asked someone to check whether police officers were on the street before he emerged.

“I sent him (a message), I said, ‘You know I’m safe where I am, but I’m surrounded,'” he recounted.

THE ALLEGATIONS

Sowore alleged that people linked to the Ekiti State Government House were involved, naming Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s Chief Security Officer, CSP Ayodele Akinlua, and Adenijo Olusola, known as Solar .

He described the incident as an assassination attempt, saying he and members of his entourage narrowly escaped being killed .

“First is to make it clear that this was an assassination attempt that we happen to be lucky about,” he said.

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He also criticised the police handling of the incident, particularly their response to the injuries sustained by members of his entourage.

He said the Commissioner of Police, Michael Falade, described the injuries as minor without first speaking to him about what had happened.

Sowore also questioned the police response to the availability of CCTV footage from the restaurant where the incident began. He said he contacted the Divisional Police Officer and raised the need to secure the footage, but alleged that the officer became aggressive.

THE POLICE’S POSITION

The Ekiti State Police Command had initially described the incident as an “altercation” and said Sowore had been rescued from suspected thugs.

On Saturday, police announced the arrest of 11 suspects in Ado-Ekiti’s Atikankan area, recovering items including charms, walkie-talkies and mobile phones.

WHY IT MATTERS

The conflicting accounts of the Sowore attack have become a credibility test for the Ekiti State Police Command.If Sowore’s account is accurate, the police did not rescue him.

They arrived after he had already saved himself. And their characterization of the attack as an “altercation” was an attempt to downplay a politically motivated assassination attempt.

The 11 suspects are in custody. The investigation continues. But for Sowore, the question is not whether the police arrested the attackers. It is whether they were complicit in the attack itself. ValidViewNetwork reports.