Omoyele Sowore’s vehicle attacked by hoodlums at Federal High Court Abuja 

Publisher and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, was attacked by hoodlums in Abuja yesterday December 2.

Omoyele was at the Federal High Court, Abuja for the resumed trial of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu. As he drove out of the court premises, hoodlums who had gathered outside the court premises began to throw stones at his car, shattering the window. Thankfully he was not injured.

Narrating how he was attacked, Sowore on his Facebook page, wrote;

”I was at the Federal High Court in Abuja today to cover, observe and witness the trial of IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu before Justice Binta Nyanko.

Soon as court proceedings ended I left the courtroom and tried going to my next assignment in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

A soon as I reached the gate of the Federal High Court I was alerted to the large presence of thugs and hoodlums carrying dangerous weapons. I had been briefed that these persons were mobilized by Nigeria’s secret police known as the DSS. During my last appearance in court for the same purpose, they physically attacked me while the DSS and police pushed me back to them, this was captured on tape.

My lawyers wrote a petition to the police and the DG of DSS specifically requesting for their prosecution of the “thugs” and their officers invoked in these infamous acts but the security agencies either ignored the petitions or played hooky.

Today, as I drove away from the courtroom I was attacked with dangerous objects leading to the destruction of my car and injuries to some of the occupants in the car traveling with me, I sustained minor injuries from broken glasses. These assailants were brought by the DSS according to Federal court security. It is not their first time.

The federal DSS Director of Operations even informed court security to “withdraw” whenever I was to be attacked.

Since my partial release in December 2019, the police and DSS have tried to maim or kill me in several documented /reported incidents of abuse and assault including the shooting of a riot gun, physical attacks, and recently the use of non-state actors to violently assault me in public.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian media haven’t reported or investigated these violent deadly attacks.