Democracy Day Protest: How Nigerian Police Fired Strange Gas At Close Range Into My Lungs — Sowore

Sowore stated this in a Facebook post shortly after the protest, insisting that the action was part of what he called a broader pattern of state-backed repression against dissenting voices.

Human rights activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has condemned operatives of the Nigeria Police Force for deploying “strange gas” at close range during Friday’s Democracy Day protest in Abuja, an incident which left him and others struggling to breathe till he briefly collapsed.

Sowore stated this in a Facebook post shortly after the protest, insisting that the action was part of what he called a broader pattern of state-backed repression against dissenting voices.

“REPRESSION HAS NEVER DEFEATED A JUST CAUSE,” he wrote.

“Today, operatives of the Nigeria Police Force deployed a strange gas at the protest ground, at close range which entered my lungs and left me struggling to breathe before I eventually collapsed.”