Prodemocracy activist and convener of the #RevolutionNowMovement, Omoyele Sowore, has maintained that he was shot by a police officer during a rally at Unity Fountain in Abuja on Monday.
This comes after the report of the Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory claimed that the rights activist was not shot during the encounter.
However, following his discharge from the hospital on Tuesday, Sowore said that Monday’s incident marked the third time security operatives of the Nigerian Police would attack him.
He said, “Femi Falana’s ASCAB invited us to a protest against growing insecurity in the country. I left home alongside other friends. Upon approaching the venue, we received intelligence that the police had locked the gate.
“We explained to them (police officers) that it is within our rights to protest. We told them that it was wrong to shut the gate of the venue against us but they refused. We reached the Commissioner of Police. He responded that he had no hand in it.
“When I looked back, I discovered that between three and five trucks loaded with police officers had arrived at the scene. We started singing solidarity songs and began to stream live on social media. From nowhere, a policewoman came and approached me with a federal riot gun.
“It is used in shooting projectiles or teargas. It is not meant to be used to shoot persons. At such a close range, she looked at me and said ‘Sowore, you are the one that is here’. She shot at me. I started to bleed. I noticed that blood was running underneath my trousers. I couldn’t walk again.
“Upon being on the ground, she instructed her men to shoot their teargas in our direction, apparently to prevent people from saving me. But the two men beside me rushed me to the hospital. On our way to the hospital, I discovered that my thigh was swelling and expanding.
“We got halfway into the public hospital before deciding to go to a private hospital. When we discovered that one hospital couldn’t manage my level pains, we went to another private hospital.”
Sowore, who contested for the 2019 presidential election, said a policeman had head-butted him and broke his nose in the process.
“I have seen some pro-government narratives. This was the same thing that the government said when the DSS wanted to abduct me in court. The senate investigated but after finding out the truth, they could not release the outcome. This is the third time they are sending police to attack me.”
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