Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential aspirant, Omoyele Sowore, has alleged that a mobile phone stolen from a member of his team during Friday’s attack in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, has been traced to the Governor’s Lodge.
Sowore, who disclosed this in a social media post on Sunday, demanded that the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) immediately release CCTV footage from Tawakalitu Restaurant, where the attack reportedly occurred.
“One of the phones stolen from a member of our team during Friday’s brutal attack in Ado-Ekiti has now been traced to the Governor’s Lodge in Ekiti State,” he said.
He added, “The @PoliceNG and @OfficialDSSNG must immediately release the CCTV footage from Tawakalitu Restaurant to the public. You cannot bury the evidence.”
The latest allegation comes amid growing controversy over the police investigation into the attack, during which Sowore and members of his team were assaulted shortly after he attended an interview at MIDAS FM 90.5 in Ado-Ekiti on Friday.
Sowore has accused individuals linked to the Ekiti State Government House and security operatives of involvement in the assault, which he has described as an assassination attempt.
On Saturday, the activist accused the Ekiti State Police Command of shielding the alleged masterminds, despite announcing the arrest of 11 suspects.
The police said their operatives arrested the suspects at their hideouts in the Atikankan area of Ado-Ekiti at about 10pm on Friday, October 30, following a tip-off.
Items reportedly recovered from them included two walkie-talkies, substances suspected to be Indian hemp and Colorado, seven ATM cards, 13 mobile phones, eight international passports and two suspected criminal charms.
Reacting to the arrests, Sowore said the police announcement confirmed that the incident was a violent attack, contrary to the command’s initial description of it as an altercation.
“This is a major admission that what happened was no ordinary ‘altercation,’ as the same police initially tried to deceive the public into believing. It was a coordinated, violent attack that could have cost us our lives,” he said.
However, he insisted that the arrests would be inadequate unless those who allegedly organised, financed and coordinated the attack were also apprehended.
Sowore specifically demanded the arrest of Adenijo Olusola, popularly known as Solar, whom eyewitnesses had identified as alleged participants in the assault.
He accused Solar of coordinating the attack from the Ekiti State Government House alongside Governor Biodun Oyebanji’s Chief Security Officer, CSP Ayodele Akinlua.
Eyewitnesses had also identified Omotuyi Temitope, also known as Tope Jinadu Small, as one of those behind the attack.
“Where are the masterminds? Where is Sola Adenijo, popularly known as Solar, whom we have identified as one of those involved in coordinating the attack from the State Governor’s Office, especially the CSO to the governor, CSP Ayodele Akinlua?” he asked.
SaharaReporters had earlier reported that eyewitnesses identified Solar and Tope Jinadu Small as alleged participants in the attack. The allegations against the two men have not been established by a court.
Solar had previously faced murder charges in two separate cases linked to political violence in Ekiti State. In September 2014, he was among seven men prosecuted over the murder of former state chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Chief Omolafe Aderiye. However, the Ekiti State High Court discharged and acquitted all seven defendants in January 2018 after finding that the prosecution had failed to provide sufficient evidence linking them to the murder.
He was also arrested and arraigned alongside two others over the March 2021 violence during the Ekiti East Constituency 1 by-election in Omuo-Ekiti. The charges included conspiracy, murder and attempted murder. No final High Court judgment or conviction against him in that case has been established from the records reviewed.
Tope Jinadu Small, meanwhile, was among inmates who escaped from the Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre during a 2012 jailbreak involving 220 prisoners.
In June 2024, the then Ekiti State Police spokesperson, DSP Sunday Abutu, confirmed his arrest and said he had previously been remanded at the correctional facility over conspiracy and armed robbery charges.
Abutu said Tope Small and another inmate, Jimoh Sadiku, had colluded with accomplices outside the facility to break the prison gate and facilitate the escape of the inmates.
He further said Tope Small fled to the United Arab Emirates, where he was arrested in connection with a murder case, imprisoned for six years and later repatriated to Nigeria.
Sowore has also alleged that DSS operatives trailed and harassed him and his team before the attack.
The police initially described the incident as an altercation involving Sowore and some individuals at Tawakalitu Restaurant, saying the activist was injured and taken to hospital for treatment. Sowore rejected that account, insisting that he and his team were victims of a coordinated assault.