Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has called on the Ekiti State Police Command to arrest and prosecute those responsible for the attack on African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore in Ado-Ekiti.
Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the attackers were known and should be brought before a magistrates’ court in the state capital without delay.
His statement on Sunday followed the police announcement that officers had arrested 11 suspects in connection with the incident. The command said it was investigating their possible roles and seeking to identify others involved.
The incident occurred at a restaurant in the Dalimore area of Ado-Ekiti on Friday, 30 October. Sowore said armed men attacked him and members of his team, while the police initially described the incident as an altercation.
Police spokesperson Abutu Sunday said officers arrested the 11 suspects in the Atikankan area of the state capital at about 10 p.m. on Friday, following a tip-off. The command announced the arrests the following day.
The police also said Sowore and other injured people had received treatment and been discharged from hospital.
Sowore alleged that people connected to the Ekiti State Government were involved in the attack. The government denied the allegation and asked the police to investigate and identify those responsible.
In a statement signed by the governor’s chief press secretary, Olayinka Oyebode, the government said it had no connection with the incident and would leave the determination of the facts to the appropriate authorities. Falana welcomed the government’s call for an investigation.
The lawyer placed the incident alongside earlier cases of violence in Ekiti, referring to the killings of Dr Ayo Daramola, Tunde Omojola and Kehinde Fasuba.
Falana said the men were killed because of political differences and alleged that members of the group responsible also threatened other prominent people in the state.
He said suspects were arrested and charged before the Ekiti State High Court, but alleged that politically connected interests compromised the cases. He linked that outcome to the persistence of political thuggery and unlawful killings in the state.
Falana also drew attention to a separate case involving the death of Sunday Ogunsakin after an alleged attack in Afao-Ekiti on 14 September.
He asked the state Ministry of Justice to take over the case involving Joseph Rotimi Olabiowonu, also known as Metilo, and Opeyemi Adedoyin, and bring charges of abduction, torture and murder before the High Court.
Olabiowonu is a former chairman of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria in Ekiti State.
According to Falana, the two men went to Ogunsakin’s home during a dispute over land, assaulted him and took him away in a vehicle. He alleged that Ogunsakin was pushed from the moving vehicle and sustained severe head injuries.
Police said Ogunsakin was taken to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, where a doctor confirmed his death. The command had announced the arrest of Olabiowonu and Adedoyin in September.
Falana said the police subsequently brought both suspects before a magistrates’ court in Ado-Ekiti. He said the magistrate ordered their remand in a correctional facility pending legal advice from the state Attorney-General, despite pressure from influential interests.