Sowore Exposes How Nigerian Government Covered Up For Assassins Of His Brother – SaharaReporters.com

The presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has exposed how the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the police have covered up for the killers of his brother, Olajide Felix. 

Felix, brother of the human rights activists, was shot dead by suspected herders in Okada area, in the Ovia North-East Local government area of Edo State on Saturday, September 4, 2021.

Felix was a student of Pharmacy at Igbinedion University before the unfortunate incident.

But a year after his gruesome death, the police have been dilly-dallying as regards the prosecution of those arrested in connection with the murder of Felix. 

Sowore, in a statement posted on his Twitter handle on Sunday, exactly a year after the killing of Felix, said, “A year ago, my immediate younger brother Olajide Felix Sowore was brutally cut down by forces undoubtedly connected to the Muhammadu Buhari regime. 

“I say it without hesitation that events following his brutal murder points to state complicity. 

“Upon his gruesome murder our family made several efforts to resolve his murder by cooperating with the Nigeria Police Force, despite several meetings and phone conversations nothing concrete was done to unravel his killers except the police trying to cajole the family to bury him without carrying out an autopsy.

“Shortly after his burial the Police presented photos of two young men they alleged were ‘Fulani herdsmen/kidnappers’ they arrested in a forest. They stated that these men had ‘confessed’ to killing my brother during a kidnapping operation at an abandoned Police check point near Benin City. 

“They promised to commence prosecution in two weeks, that was in October 2021. We never heard back from the Nigerian police again. 

“My brother lived a fulfilled life, he designed his life the way he wanted it and lived accordingly until his life was cut short. He struggled against poverty, left home to build an independent life when he didn’t think he was ready for tertiary education and after he settled down in Benin City he decided to get a Pharmacy degree at a private university, Igbinedion University near Benin City in Edo state. 

“He was in his second year and it was while he was on his way from school that these forces double crossed and murdered/assassinated him at an abandoned police check point (they claimed policemen were off duty at the time.

“My brother is gone and we keep missing him dearly. 

“However, we remain committed to ensuring that his death will not be in vain and that the conditions that permits the unconscionable termination of life by dark forces propelled by impunity, incompetence and complicity in Nigeria would be wiped out during our time as a result those responsible for his murder should not rejoice. Justice will prevail no matter how long it is delayed.

“I must thank all our compatriots that stood by/with our family during one of the hardest stages of the grief we went through upon his shocking demise.”

SaharaReporters in February 2021 reported how youth leaders in Edo State issued a 14-day ultimatum to Fulani herdsmen to vacate their communities, owing to the killings and violence perpetrated by suspected killer herders.

Around the same time, aggrieved women in Uromi, Edo protested against the rising cases of attacks, killings and kidnappings by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

The women had blocked some major roads in the community, alleging that they were constantly being harassed and intimidated by the herdsmen.

They had lamented that they had lost fortunes as a result of the destructive activities of cattle belonging to the herdsmen, noting that they were no longer safe.

According to them, the solution to the problem was for Fulani herdsmen to leave the area.

Following the killing of his brother, Sowore on his Facebook on the same day narrated how his brother was shot dead.

“My immediate younger brother, Olajide Sowore was today shot and killed near Okada in Edo state by reportedly herdsmen /kidnappers on his way from Igbinedion University in Edo state where he is studying Pharmacy.

“They snuffed out the life yet another real human being! Rest In Power, Dr. Mamiye! This act in itself will not delay their day of justice. I travelled widely with you and our father as a little kid. You were the most loved robust kid I ever first knew. You, Mr. Magnet had no enemy!

“You, Mr. Sunshine Foundation who made everyone happy. You, the boy who snuck out his older ones to parties, taking all the blames when our disciplinarian father found out.

“You, the guy who was an out-of-the-box thinker who decided school wasn’t for you and created your own genre of music and then turned around to go to school after you almost turned 50!

“You lived your life so that everyone could be alright but now assassinated by everything that’s not alright! Saddest day yet!” he had said.