Andrew Wynne, a British national accused by the Nigerian Police Force of inciting insurrection against President Bola Tinubu, has urged the Nigerian government not to equate public protests with treason.
Wynne, who has been accused of orchestrating sleeper cells aimed at toppling the Tinubu administration, responded strongly to the allegations.
Recently, the Nigerian Police raided and sealed Wynne’s bookshop located within the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) headquarters in Abuja. In connection with these events, ten Nigerians who participated in last month’s #EndBadGovernance protest in Abuja have been arraigned by the government, accused of collaborating with Wynne in an alleged plot to destabilize Nigeria and incite military intervention.
In a statement issued on his bookshop’s letterhead and shared with the media, Wynne called for the immediate release of all detainees, asserting, “Protest is not treason—release all the detainees!” He criticized the government’s repressive response to the mass protests, noting that instead of addressing the demands of the people, the government resorted to violence and intimidation.
Wynne alleged that the security forces killed nearly 40 people during the protests and arrested thousands, many of whom are still in detention. He also highlighted the government’s targeting of protest leaders, with ten individuals facing grave charges, including treason and mutiny.
He drew attention to the case of Eleojo Opaluwa, a former colleague of NLC President Joe Ajaero, who has been detained for over four weeks without substantial evidence. Wynne argued that the charges against the detainees lack merit, pointing out that many of them barely know each other and that the evidence against them is weak at best.
Wynne also condemned the inhumane treatment of those detained, citing the case of Yomi, an employee of Iva Valley Books, who was allegedly tortured and imprisoned for designing protest flyers. He called on the NLC to extend its protection beyond its leadership to include all its members and the public, stressing that the trade union movement must take a stand against the government’s repressive actions.
