Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress presidential candidate, has released video footage that he says identifies people involved in a violent assault on him and members of his team in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, while alleging that state authorities and police attempted to suppress evidence from the incident.
Key takeaways
- Sowore said newly obtained footage clearly shows the alleged attackers at Tawakalitu Restaurant in Ado-Ekiti.
- The assault occurred on October 30, 2026, after an interview he gave at MIDAS FM 90.5, and left him requiring hospital treatment.
- He alleged that the assailants were dispatched from Ekiti Government House.
- The AAC candidate accused police and Department of State Services personnel of removing and later returning CCTV equipment with its recordings erased.
- Ekiti police had previously characterised the episode as an altercation.
Claims over erased surveillance footage
In a post on his verified X account, the human-rights campaigner called the latest recording a significant development, saying it captured the attackers’ faces despite what he described as efforts to erase the restaurant’s surveillance evidence.
“This is a major breakthrough. The video shows their faces clearly. They thought they erased the CCTV but we got another video,” Sowore said.
He said the attack took place soon after his radio appearance at MIDAS FM 90.5, when a group confronted him and his associates at Tawakalitu Restaurant. Sowore alleged that the group had come from the Ekiti Government House.
He further accused the Ekiti State Police Command of concealing the circumstances of the attack. In his account, police officers and operatives of the DSS removed the restaurant’s CCTV recorder, took it away and later returned the equipment without the original images.
Sowore said fresh video evidence had emerged showing people he identified as participants in the armed October 30 attack on AAC leaders, members of his team and party supporters. He said one member of the group was assaulted during the incident.
Demands for an independent inquiry
The AAC candidate said he contacted Ekiti State Commissioner of Police Michael Falade, Ado-Ekiti Central Police Station Divisional Police Officer Mustapha Mohammed and the state Rapid Response Squad commander on November 1 to seek an update on the investigation.
He said the officers told him there was “no complainant” because he had not made a written statement. Sowore disputed that position, arguing that police had rescued victims, taken them to hospital, arrested suspects and recovered weapons, stolen phones and other devices.
He also said he raised questions about phones allegedly stolen in the attack that were electronically traced to the Governor’s Lodge, as well as the missing CCTV footage. The officials denied knowledge of those matters and ended their conversations, he alleged.
Management of Tawakalitu Restaurant reportedly confirmed that a DPO returned the CCTV equipment, but that all recordings had been wiped. Sowore said the management declined to name the officer who returned it, which he described as evidence of a coordinated effort by the police hierarchy in Ekiti State to cover up the incident.
While the recovered video offered important leads for identifying those involved, Sowore said their identities and respective roles should be examined by a credible independent investigative body. He called for Commissioner Falade and other officers he alleged were involved in the cover-up to be removed.
The October 30 assault in Ado-Ekiti left Sowore injured and he was taken to hospital for treatment. The Ekiti Police Command had earlier maintained that the incident amounted to an altercation.
