Ex-Presidential Candidate Injured In Police Crackdown On Anti-Government Protesters In Nigeria’s Capital
Police shot tear gas canisters at protesters in Abuja including an ex-presidential candidate, Yele Sowore, demanding an end to insecurity in Nigeria.
Omoyele Sowore, a former presidential candidate sustained an injury around his hip on Monday, May 31, when a team of police officers attacked demonstrators demanding an end to insecurity in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
HumAngle learnt that Sowore, the publisher of Saharareporters online newspaper, sustained the injury after police officers fired canisters at the protesters who converged at the Unity Fountain in Abuja.
The former presidential candidate was trying to access the venue when he was hit by a tear gas canister fired by a female cop in a targeted attack, according to Inibehe Effiong, one of his lawyers.
“What is clear is that Sowore was directly targeted,” Effiong said on Twitter.
According to the lawyer, the police had allegedly denied the protesters entry into the place when Sowore waded into the matter. Effiong said Sowore had been taken to the hospital for medical treatment.
Also, Sowore also announced the development on his Twitter account.
Just been shit by a police officer, ACP Atine at the Unity Fountain in Abuja. #RevolutionNow Let the struggle continue even if they take my life! #BuhariMustGo pic.twitter.com/c9ui2UutXO
— Omoyele Sowore (@YeleSowore) May 31, 2021
In January, Sowore was brutalised by the police and arrested alongside four others during a protest on new year’s eve.
In 2019, he ran for the presidential election against the incumbent Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and other candidates but lost.
Not True—Police
Police, however, denied Sowore was shot by a female cop, dismissing the report as false.
A statement by Mariam Yusuf, the police spokesperson in Abuja, said the protesters were only “resisted in order to prevent them from causing a breakdown of law and order.”
“There is no record of such an incident as at the time of this release,” the statement read in part.
“Police operatives professionally restored calm at the Unity Fountain following attempts by a group of protesters to incite public disturbance.”
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