An EndSARS activist, Moyinoluwa Olowoyo, popularly known as Gigabytes, has alleged that the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji, CSP Ayodele Akinlua, called him hours before Friday’s attack on African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore and members of his entourage, warning that Sowore’s safety could not be guaranteed if he held a political rally in the state.
#EndSARS was a Nigerian social movement and protest campaign against police brutality, particularly abuses by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a unit of the Nigerian Police Force that had long been accused of extortion, torture, harassment, unlawful detention, and extrajudicial killings.
The movement began online with the hashtag#EndSARS around 2017, but it grew into nationwide and international protests in October 2020 after videos and reports of alleged SARS abuses spread widely on social media.
Thousands of mostly young Nigerians organised peaceful demonstrations, demanding the dissolution of SARS, justice for victims of police brutality, accountability for offending officers and broader police and governance reforms.
On October 11, 2020, the Nigerian Police announced the dissolution of SARS.
Olowoyo, who was among those attacked alongside Sowore on October 30, 2026, said he received the call at about 7:30 a.m., several hours before suspected political thugs stormed Tawakalitu Restaurant in Ado-Ekiti, where Sowore and his team had stopped to eat.
Recounting the telephone conversation, Olowoyo said the governor’s security chief asked whether Sowore planned to hold a rally in Ekiti State.
“Before I joined Sowore and other comrades yesterday, I got a phone call from the Chief Security Officer to Governor Biodun Oyebanji around 7:30 a.m. He asked me if it was true that Omoyele Sowore wanted to have a rally in Ekiti State. I responded no, that nothing of such was planned,” Olowoyo recounted.
According to him, CSP Akinlua insisted that any political rally in the state must be brought to the attention of the Commissioner of Police and other security formations.
He alleged that the CSO warned that since Sowore had not formally notified security agencies of his arrival or any planned rally, his safety could not be guaranteed if such an event took place.
“The CSO said for any rally to happen in this state, the Commissioner of Police must be aware, alongside every other security formation. He said Sowore had not informed any security agency in the state of his arrival and that if any rally should happen, his safety could not be guaranteed,” Olowoyo stated.
He said he repeatedly assured the security official that Sowore and his team had no plans to organise a rally or any related political gathering.
“I reaffirmed my position that there was no rally or anything related to such from our camp, and he ended the call,” he added.
However, Olowoyo questioned why suspected political thugs subsequently attacked Sowore and his entourage despite the absence of any rally or public mobilisation.
“So why did those thugs still come to attack us? We didn’t hold any rally. We didn’t mobilize anyone to the place where they attacked us. We didn’t rent the place, and we didn’t tell anyone to meet us there,” he said.
Narrating how the attack unfolded, Olowoyo said Sowore and his entourage had just left Midas Radio in Ado-Ekiti when they stopped at Tawakalitu Restaurant, behind Oluyemi Kayode Stadium, to eat.
He said the group had barely settled inside the restaurant when suspected political thugs invaded the premises.
“After Sowore and his entourage left Midas Radio, they branched at Tawakalitu Restaurant behind Oluyemi Kayode Stadium to eat. We had not spent five minutes inside the restaurant when all these thugs came in to attack us,” he recalled.
According to Olowoyo, the attackers appeared to be looking specifically for Sowore.
“Where is that Sowore? Where is he?” he quoted the assailants as shouting as they entered the restaurant.
He alleged that the attackers were primarily interested in locating and assaulting the AAC presidential candidate rather than confronting everyone at the restaurant indiscriminately.
Olowoyo further claimed that he recognised some of the attackers as individuals who had assaulted him during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
“This was how I was attacked during the #EndSARS 2020 protest. The same faces came to attack us again yesterday,” he alleged.
Linking the early-morning telephone warning to the subsequent assault, Olowoyo accused individuals associated with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State of having knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the attack.
“The reason for yesterday’s attack can only be explained by the APC Ekiti chapter,” he declared.
He maintained that the sequence of events, particularly the warning from the governor’s Chief Security Officer and the attackers’ sudden appearance at a restaurant where no political meeting or rally had been scheduled, raised questions about possible surveillance and coordination.
“Their main target was Sowore, and it is crystal clear to someone like me that it was a government-sponsored attack. They planned it so well, and they executed their plans,” Olowoyo alleged.
He also claimed that the attackers took mobile phones and other personal belongings belonging to members of Sowore’s entourage.
“All our phones and belongings are still in their possession till this very moment,” he stated.
Olowoyo’s account raises questions about how the attackers allegedly located Sowore and his team within minutes of their arrival at a restaurant where no political gathering had been announced.
It also draws attention to the reported telephone conversation with CSP Akinlua, particularly the alleged warning that Sowore’s safety could not be guaranteed if he held a rally in the state.
The allegations also raise questions about the possible involvement of individuals connected to the Ekiti State Government.
The Ekiti State Police Command had earlier described the incident as an altercation, a characterisation disputed by Sowore and members of his team, who insist they were subjected to a coordinated and unprovoked attack.