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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The British national, Andrew Wynne, declared wanted on Monday by the Nigeria Police for allegedly plotting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration, has denied the allegation.
Wynne, who spoke on Channels Television programme, ‘Politics Today,’ on Monday night from his base in the United Kingdom, said he was not even aware he had been labelled a fugitive.
The denial comes a few hours after the Nigeria Police placed a N20 million bounty on his head along with a Nigerian, Lucky Obiyan, who was described as an accomplice.
Addressing newsmen on Abuja on Monday, the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, accused the Briton of building a network of sleeper cells to topple the government and plunge the nation into chaos.
But Wynee declared that he couldn’t have been scheming to destabilise the leadership of a country that accommodated him for 25 years.
“I am not aware that I am a fugitive. I am not aware that I am running away from the law. I have been visiting Nigeria for 25 years and have had a bookshop in the NLC office right in the centre of Abuja for seven years. All that time, of course, the security forces have paid no interest in me.
“I have always had one nationality. The name on my passport is Andrew Wynne and I operate with a nickname. I think it really started as differentiating in the sense of the broad political education work that I do with the bookshop.
“I am more than happy to talk to the police and have a discussion on WhatsApp or Zoom. I am more than happy to go to London and meet with officials from the Nigerian High Commission. If they want to start a conversation, then I think that is more than adequate,”he said.
Wynne’s wife (names withheld), who also spoke on the programme, distanced her husband from the alleged terror act, saying the allegation was deliberately concocted for witch-hunt.
She blamed one Olumide Inokunye as the brain behind the raid on her husband’s bookshop at the NLC complex and the attempt to frame her husband.
“We have been together for nine years now. Eight years of friendship and we got married last year. My husband has been falsely accused. He has never been a terrorist.
“He is being accused because one Mr. Olumide Inokunye (sic) owes him and is not willing to pay him. The case is still in court even now. So, he is just doing everything he can to intimidate and throw him out of the country.
“My husband is in the UK now. He came in at the expiry date of his (visa) and had to go back,” she said.
Also, a statement written on the letterhead of his bookshop, Wynne asked the federal government to release all the detained #EndBadGovernance protesters, adding that protest is not treason.
He said the mass protests over #EndBadGovernance and #EndHunger frightened the government.
“But rather than addressing the peoples’ demands, the government turned to repression. Perhaps 40 people were murdered by the police and other security forces, thousands were arrested, and many still remain in captivity.
“In Abuja, the authorities have attacked the so-called leaders and organisers of the protests. Ten people face ridiculous charges, including treason, mutiny, and levying war against the state.
“The NLC promised a general strike to protect its President, Joe Ajaero, from arrest and detention in relation to similar charges.
“Despite the flimsy nature of the evidence against the detainees, they face long years in prison unless the trade union movement is prepared to protect them.
“On 7th August, the NLC said it, ‘condemns in the strongest terms the human rights violations perpetrated by security forces against peaceful protesters.’ The first person to be arrested in this case was Eleojo Opaluwa.
“He is a former colleague of Joe Ajaero, working for NUEE, the electricians’ union, as an organiser in Abuja.
“He is also the Vice Chair of the NLC in Kogi State. He has now been detained for over 4 weeks with no tangible evidence. His family was told that he had received a WhatsApp message from one of the other alleged leaders.
“This was after Eleojo had actually been detained. The ten detainees have been accused of conspiracy to commit a range of serious crimes.
“However, they barely know each other. Five of them may have been members of a WhatsApp group set up to organise the protests in Abuja. But the other five are unknown to these comrades.
“They may be a few of the flag waving protesters from Kano who were added to extend the range of the organisers to cover the main protests from Sokoto to Maiduguri.
“The head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) told the detainees’ lawyers that he would have released them, but that he had orders from above not to set them free.
“So the police have developed what appears to be a ridiculous case involving the owner of Iva Valley Books. They are claiming that he goes under the name of Andrew Povich, a Russian-sounding name, and that he has now left Nigeria for Russia.
“Neither of these claims are true. Yomi, who works for Iva Valley Books, has, like the other detainees, been treated in a terribly inhumane manner. He was arrested in front of his wife and three-year-old daughter. All their phones were confiscated by the police.
“This was despite appeals from his wife that they needed a phone to get money for food. He was then imprisoned illegally and held in chains, beaten, and tortured for three days.
“His only involvement was to design flyers for the protests on the instructions of his boss. The NLC has shown that it has the power to protect its president. It now needs to extend this action to protect its other officers, its members, and the general public,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has condemned the activities of the group, and activated INTERPOL tools and other global policing networks to support ongoing domestic investigations aimed at locating and apprehending the suspects at large.
In a Special Police Gazette Bulletin released on Monday, the police announced a reward of N10 million each for anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of Wayne and Obiyan.
“If seen, arrest and hand over to the nearest Police Station, or the office of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Department of Force Intelligence, Force Headquarters, Abuja, or call 08035179870, 09133333785, 09133333786.
“A reward sum of N10,000,000 awaits any person(s) with information leading to the arrest of each of them,” the police said.
