Human rights activist and former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has said he plans to meet with the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Jimoh Moshood, after being declared wanted by the Nigeria Police Force, Lagos Command.
Sowore made the disclosure via his social media accounts, stating that he had tried several times to contact the commissioner, but CP Jimoh refused to answer his calls.
According to him, “The Lagos Police Commissioner, Moshood Jimoh, has reportedly declared me ‘wanted’ for ‘disturbance of public peace’, allegedly as a result of his officers’ inability to execute a ‘shoot on sight’ order given by his illegal IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, in Oworonsoki today.
Despite my repeated attempts to contact Nigeria Police Force Commissioner Jimoh, he has not taken my calls; nevertheless, I plan to meet with him soon to address his declaration.”
The Lagos Police Command had earlier declared Sowore wanted over what it described as a “public disturbance” connected to protests against the alleged illegal demolition of houses in the Oworonshoki community.
Reports indicate that police officers had dispersed the protesting residents — many of them displaced families — using teargas canisters as they chanted solidarity songs and demanded an end to further demolitions and the provision of alternative shelter.
The Monday protest, led by the Take It Back movement, was described by activists as a peaceful demonstration against what they called the “illegal and inhuman demolition” of homes by officials of the Lagos State Government.
Speaking on the matter, Commissioner Jimoh Moshood said, “He is riding in a vehicle and he is making a video that police have covered everywhere and he can’t come down. It is the same way police cover everywhere that he came down in Abuja. Let him come down here and he will see the wrath of people that will equally be enforced on him.”
The commissioner also disclosed that several arrests had been made in connection with the protest, insisting that the affected residents of Oworonshoki had been compensated and were now living peacefully.