Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), has accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of providing support to armed men who attacked him and members of his team in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Gatekeepers News reports that Sowore made the allegation in a series of posts on his X account on Friday, following an incident that occurred shortly after he concluded an interview at MIDAS FM 90.5 in the state capital.
In one of the posts, the activist alleged that the attackers were government-sponsored thugs and that DSS operatives provided them with his team’s exact location.
“We have been brutally attacked and injured by well armed government-sponsored thugs in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State,” he wrote.
“The @OfficialDSSNG provided these attackers with our exact location, enabling them to carry out this vicious assault. We won’t back down! We have a country to liberate!”
In another post, Sowore alleged that the attackers came from the Ekiti State Government House and received tracking and operational support from DSS operatives.
He further claimed that security operatives had been trailing and harassing members of his team since their arrival in the state on Thursday.
According to him, the operatives also threatened the manager of a restaurant where his team had earlier eaten, warning him against allowing them to use the premises again.
The AAC presidential candidate also faulted the Ekiti State Police Command over its description of the incident as an altercation.
The police had dismissed reports that Sowore was kidnapped, stating that preliminary information indicated that he was involved in an altercation with some individuals at a restaurant in the Dalimore area of Ado-Ekiti.
In a statement, the command’s spokesperson, Sunday Abutu, said police operatives responded to a distress call and rescued Sowore from the scene.
The command added that he sustained minor injuries and was receiving medical attention at the Police Hospital in Ado-Ekiti.
It also disclosed that the Commissioner of Police, Falade Adegoroye Michael, had ordered a discreet investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and identify those involved.
However, Sowore rejected the police account, insisting that he and his associates were attacked rather than involved in an altercation.
He accused the police commissioner of downplaying the incident, alleging that the commissioner personally saw the injuries sustained by members of his team but that the command subsequently described them as minor.
As of the time of filing this report, the DSS had not issued an official response to the allegations.
