‘I H!d In Elderly Woman’s Kitchen For 45 Minutes As About 50 ∆rmed Men With Cutlasses, Axes Hunt£d Me’ – Sowore
Skip to main content
‘I Hid In Elderly Woman’s Kitchen For 45 Minutes As About 50 Armed Men With Cutlasses, Axes Hunted Me’ – Sowore
Sowore said he had eaten and briefly left the table to wash his hands when members of his entourage alerted him that gunshots had been heard outside.Shop African Art
Human rights activist and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate for the 2027 election Omoyele Sowore has recounted how he escaped an alleged assassination attempt in Ekiti State by hiding in the kitchen of an elderly woman for about 45 minutes as armed men searched nearby houses for him.
Sowore said the attackers, whom he estimated to number about 50, were armed with cutlasses and axes and threatened to kill anyone suspected of hiding him.
He narrated the frightening experience on Sunday evening during the Sowore Global Security Meeting, a Global Emergency Zoom Meeting monitored by SaharaReporters.
According to him, the attack began after he and members of his entourage stopped at a restaurant, earlier reported by SaharaReporters as Tawakal’tu Restaurants and Catering Services, in the centre of town to eat following a radio interview.
Sowore said he had eaten and briefly left the table to wash his hands when members of his entourage alerted him that gunshots had been heard outside.Shop African Art
He immediately suspected that they were under attack.
“So I took Pastor Sam. I said, ‘This is an attack. They’re trying to kill us,’” he recounted.
He said he escaped from the restaurant alongside Pastor Sam and another member of his entourage identified as Larry, but alleged that the attackers pursued them as they tried to find somewhere to hide.
Sowore explained that another member of his group, whom he described as a security operative carrying a pistol, helped monitor the attackers’ movements and signal when it was safe to move.Shop African Art
He said he eventually asked Larry to help him move behind a nearby wall, describing the decision as crucial to his survival.
“I just told Larry, please let me just step inside of the wall, and that was my saving grace,” he said.
Sowore alleged that the attackers subsequently arrived in large numbers, carrying dangerous weapons.Shop African Art
“They just came. They were like 50 or so. They had these cutlasses. They had that axe, and I saw them and I just moved again and kept moving,” he said.
The activist said he first entered a residential compound containing several rooms, where occupants were surprised to see him running inside.
He told them that armed men were pursuing him and that he feared they would attack anyone found helping him.
“I said some people are trying to cut us,” he recalled.
Sowore said an elderly man in the compound warned him against crossing into another compound because the attackers could see him.
However, he feared that remaining in the building would expose him because the attackers were surrounding the area and could search the rooms one after another.
He therefore moved into a neighbouring compound, where he found an elderly woman cooking in her kitchen.
According to him, the woman asked what was wrong when she saw him enter, and he explained that armed men were pursuing him.
“She said, ‘Okay, let me just sit here in my kitchen,’” Sowore recounted, describing how the woman allowed him to hide and quietly closed the kitchen door.
He praised the woman for protecting him, saying she did not alert other occupants of the house to his presence, even when she briefly went outside.
“This woman was like an amazing person. She didn’t tell anybody. She even went out to look for them and came back acting like I wasn’t there,” he said.
Sowore said he remained hidden for approximately 45 minutes while the attackers searched nearby houses.
He alleged that the men threatened to kill anyone found harbouring him.
He said people inside the building were unaware that he was hiding there, even as they discussed the danger posed by the armed men.
The activist said he eventually moved from the kitchen to another section of the house but remained close to the woman.
He had also lost his phone while escaping and could not safely return to retrieve it.
Sowore said he relied on his smartwatch to contact people who could help him, eventually reaching an individual identified as Philip Otoko.
“I sent him, I said, ‘You know I’m safe where I am, but I’m surrounded,’” he said.
He later received calls from another contact, identified as Dr JD, and initially hesitated to share his location because he suspected that the attackers might be monitoring their communications.
Sowore said he eventually sent his location to people who could assist him and contacted a member of his group who was in communication with the local police.
He disputed the police account that officers rescued him, insisting that he had independently contacted people and shared his location before leaving the hiding place.
“Contrary to what the police is saying, that they rescued him, they didn’t rescue me. I was the one who sent them my location,” he said.
Sowore said he asked someone to confirm whether police officers were on the street before emerging from the compound.
He subsequently walked out and met officers, who took him and other members of his entourage to a hospital.
“The police didn’t rescue me, you know, but if they call that rescue, we can give that to them,” he added.
The activist described the incident as an assassination attempt that he and members of his entourage narrowly survived.
“First is to make it clear that this was an assassination attempt that we happen to be lucky about,” he said.
His account provides a detailed description of the moments he spent fleeing the attackers.
