Osun Election: Police Attacked Us With Tear Gas On Way To AAC Rally, Sowore Alleges

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has accused men and women of the Nigeria Police Force deployed to monitor the Osun State governorship election of attacking him and members of his team with tear gas while they were on their way to Osogbo, the state capital.

Sowore made this known in a statement posted on his social media handles, saying the incident occurred on Wednesday as he travelled to Osogbo to attend a mega rally organised for the AAC governorship candidate, Olajide Esan.

According to Sowore, the police officers initially engaged him and his team peacefully before firing tear gas at them.

“Men and women of the Nigeria Police Force deployed to monitor the Osun gubernatorial election somehow found time to attack us on our way into Oshogbo today, as we headed to the mega rally of AAC candidate, Olajide Esan,” Sowore said.

He explained that the officers secretly deployed tear gas against them despite a respectful and peaceful interaction.

“Despite our having a respectful and peaceful conversation with them, they secretly fired tear gas at us as we continued on our journey,” he added.

A video posted by Sowore shows him and some police officers interacting before the incident.

In the video, some of the police officers were seen greeting Sowore, with some of them shaking hands with the AAC presidential candidate.

Sowore was also seen acknowledging and appreciating the gestures of the officers.

While the interaction was ongoing, a canister of tear gas was thrown behind the group, causing people at the scene to immediately leave the area.

Sowore was subsequently seen coughing inside a vehicle as he was driven away from the scene.

The incident occurred amid heightened security operations in Osun State ahead of the governorship election, with security personnel deployed across the state to maintain law and order during the electoral process.

Sowore, however, said the action by the police did not prevent him and his team from proceeding to Osogbo.

“But their intimidation failed. We pushed through, arrived in Oshogbo, and triumphed,” he said.

The AAC presidential candidate further criticised the Nigeria Police Force, arguing that security personnel should be protecting citizens and ensuring a peaceful democratic process rather than targeting political actors.

“The police should be protecting citizens and safeguarding the democratic process, not attacking peaceful political actors,” Sowore said.

He condemned the action of the officers, saying, “Shame on the Nigeria Police Force!”