Omoyele Sowore allegedly shot by police in Abuja

Nigerian activist and leader of the #RevolutionNow movement, Omoyele Sowore has been reportedly shot at the Unity Fountain Abuja.

NewsWireNGR gathered that the activist and one time presidential hopeful was shot while trying to gain entrance into the place.

Sowore was said to have been speaking with a detachment of police officers stationed at the public facility when a yet to be identified policeman allegedly shot at the crowd and he was hit

Protesters had converged on the fountain at 8:30am. But the police reportedly denied them entry into the venue.

However, he has been taken to the hospital for medical treatment from the gunshot wounds he sustained. According to a report of the event by a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, the FCT Police command had gated the Unity Fountain with iron and cables to prevent protesters from entering the civic space.

In a series of tweets, he said, “Omoyele Sowore has just been shot by a female police officer at the Unity Fountain in Abuja.

“The criminal officer is said to be an ACP. I watched Sowore being shot live on Facebook.

“This is what Nigeria has been turned into under Buhari. They’ve declared war on the Civic Space.

“The FCT Police Commissioner has fenced the Unity Fountain with iron and cables to prevent protests.

“It is not yet clear whether the officer fired a gun or a teargas cannister. What is clear is that Sowore was directly targeted.”

Recall that Sowore, who contested the 2019 presidential election was arrested alongside four others on New Year eve for leading a protest in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja against bad governance in the country.

The protest tagged #CrossoverWithProtest, saw many Nigerians holding candles and a placard showing their grievances against the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

He was tried for alleged criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly and inciting public disturbance by engaging in a peaceful protest on new year’s eve.

A chief magistrate in Wuse 2 Abuja, however granted him bail in the sum of N20 million, with two sureties in like sum, one of whom must be a civil servant not below grade level 12.