I have written before that violence against the opposition is unacceptable. Now comes the allegation that Omoyele Sowore was attacked and badly beaten in Ekiti by APC thugs. This demands an immediate, independent investigation and the prosecution of everyone responsible.
This is not the Nigeria we want or need.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the APC leadership and the Ekiti State government must address this allegation publicly. Nigerians deserve answers:
- Who carried out the attack?
- Who organised them?
- Were security officers present?
- What did they do to protect Sowore, and,
- What arrests have been made?
These are questions that demand names, evidence and action.
If Tinubu and his allies believe Nigerians can be bullied into accepting their leadership, they are badly mistaken. Opposition is a constitutional right. Criticising the President is not an offence. Nobody needs permission from the APC to speak, organise or demand its removal through democratic means.
I, for one, am not surprised by these allegations. I have long warned that desperation to remain in power breeds contempt for the law. A political movement that tolerates attacks on its opponents is helping to destroy the democracy that allows it to govern.
I demand the identification and arrest of the attackers, followed by a credible investigation into anyone who financed, organised or instructed them. Arresting hired fists while protecting their sponsors would be another insult to Nigerians.
The Ekiti State government must account for its response. Its responsibility is to protect everyone within the state, including its fiercest critics. The people of Ekiti must not have their name dragged through the mud by whoever committed this barbarism.
If officers of the Nigeria Police Force or the Department of State Services participated, facilitated the attack or deliberately failed in their duty to intervene, their conduct must be independently investigated.
Every officer found complicit must face dismissal and prosecution where warranted. A badge cannot become a shield for political criminality.
Tinubu must understand that neither he nor his family owns Aso Rock. Nigerians have the right to reject his leadership, condemn his record and campaign for his departure. No beating can erase that right.
The political violence that scarred Western Nigeria during the First Republic should stand as a warning. To hear allegations of opposition figures being brutalised in 2026 is a bitter blow to every patriot.
How long must this country endure politicians who treat public office as something to defend at any cost?
I have described the APC as a criminal organisation because of the impunity I believe it tolerates. Its leadership should answer that condemnation by supporting an independent investigation, exposing any perpetrators within its ranks and ensuring that nobody receives political protection.
Nigerians must respond with determined, peaceful organisation: document abuses, protect witnesses, demand prosecutions and sustain public pressure. We cannot allow outrage to disappear while those responsible return to business as usual.
Bola Tinubu and the APC leadership should understand this clearly: power is temporary. Their obligation to obey the law is not.
Who attacked Omoyele Sowore? Who, if anyone, sent them? Who will be held accountable?
Nigeria deserves answers. Sowore deserves justice. Every Nigerian deserves the freedom to oppose a government without being assaulted.
Enough of the thuggery. Enough of the impunity. Nigeria belongs to all of us.
