Group Disowns Sowore, Says Allegations Against DSS baseless

*LTV apologizes to secret police over Assembly story

Convener of a civil society group, Nigeria Renaissance Group, Comrade Usman Okai Austin has punctured the claim by the converner of Take-it-Back Movement, Omoyele Sowore, that the Department of State Services (DSS), abducted and harassed him for accusing Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Usman Ododo of embezzling N13.4 billion local government funds.

This comes as the management of Lagos State Television (LTV) apologized to the DSS over a report last month that it’s operatives stormed the State House of Assembly.

The media organization said it “has since revised the facts and established that the acting clerk of the Lagos State House of Assembly wrote to invite the DSS to forestall breakdown of law and order,” and “tendered unreserved apology to the DSS.”

Recall that Sowore, had on the heels of a recent allegation by Austin, published several stories and uploaded video clips. In the clips, he claimed that Governor Ododo orchestrated the DSS to harrass, intimidate and abduct Austin from his house, greatly traumatizing his family.

Sowore, in the company of some associates, further accused the DSS of arbitrariness, violating the rights of citizens, and stressed that the Secret Police attempted to gag and punish the activist as punishment for speaking against Governor Ododo.

However, puncturing Sowore’s claims, Comrade Austin in a press conference in Abuja, denied being tortured by the secret police. He said the additional information his group sourced on its earlier narrative that Governor Ododo embezzled ₦13.4 billion, helped his group realize that it misrepresented the facts of the matter.

According to Austin, Sowore’s narrative on when and how the DSS arrested him were clearly his personal opinion, stressing that Sowore’s account may have been sourced from a third party that clearly wasn’t aware of what truly transpired.
The activist expressed regret over what he described as the embarrassment and inconvenience his actions caused Governor Ododo and the general public.

The Renaissance Group leader, during the course of the press conference, apologized and retracted his previous publications.

It was not clear at the time of publishing if, given Comrade Austin’s apology and retraction in the face of Sowore’s theatrics, allegations and disparaging remarks on the DSS, the secret police would seek legal action against Sowore and his associates.