African Action Congress presidential candidate and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has vowed to continue his protests and activism against bad governance in Nigeria.
Sowore, who spoke after he collapsed during a teargas incident in Abuja on Friday, during a public demonstration, said he will not bow down or be cowed.
The incident happened after Nigeria Police Force operatives fired teargas to break up a crowd that had gathered to protest rising insecurity and a wave of recent killings across the country.
Protesters said the demonstration was peaceful until security personnel blocked demonstrators from moving past a restricted area, when it turned chaotic as canisters were fired into the crowd by security operatives.
Sowore was said to have inhaled the fumes and began gasp for air before collapsing. He was later taken for medical attention.
In a statement posted on X with video clips of the confrontation, Sowore called the incident an unprovoked police attack.
He claimed security operatives used “a strange gas” at close range that severely affected his breathing.
He described the crackdown in the Federal Capital Territory as an escalation of tactics meant to crush public dissent and intimidate Nigerians exercising their constitutional rights.
He blamed the orders on President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying the use of force was aimed at silencing political opposition.
Dele Fashomi, seasoned journalist and communication teacher, is a holder of Master of Arts degree in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan in 1992/93.
Earlier, he had bagged a Bachelor degree from the same university in 1984, after which he proceeded to the Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, in 1990, for a postgraduate diploma in Journalism.
He had done many courses in communication, including the EU-BBC Editing Course in 2002.
Mr. Fashomi combines effectively the practice, research and teaching of communication. And to date, he has published two academic works in communication: Issues in Communication Technology and Policy (2010) and Economic and Social Issues in Advertising and PR (2013).
He had his first break in the Nigerian media in Concord Newspapers in 1990 and today, he has over two and half decades experience earned in several newspapers.
He has been part of many start-ups, such as The Republic (1987), The Comet (1999), The Anchor 2001 – 2002; Sun Newspapers (2003); Westerner newsmagazine (2005 – 2010) as Editor; National Life (2011) as Sunday Editor, and Newswatch Newspapers (2012- 2016) as Daily Editor.
Dele Fashomi is now the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Newstide247.com newspaper online, which he started in July 2015. He is also into biography writing, with many books in his trail, some of which he wrote alone and one he co- authored with his mentor, Mr Dare Babarinsa, entitled: Olabiyi Durojaiye – DARE TO BE DiFFERENT. He also guided and collaborated with Pa Olatunji Odusanya in writing his autobiography – AGAINST ALL ODDS. There are many other books in the works under his pen.
