Lere Olayinka, Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has come under scrutiny over statements suggesting he would personally assault human rights activist, SaharaReporters publisher, and African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore.
The statements followed the October 30, 2026, violent attack on Sowore and members of his team at Tawakalitu Restaurant in the Dalimore area of Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, which the activist has described as an attempted assassination.
In a Facebook post responding to allegations linking him to the incident, Olayinka mocked the attack and the injuries sustained by Sowore while denying that he personally participated in the violence.
“Cashtivist SowoBolt is claiming that I was part of those who served him that very hot ‘MORO’ in Ado Ekiti that made his eyes to see multiple stars,” Olayinka wrote.
He then claimed he was in Abuja at the time of the attack, stating: “Me wey I dey Abuja dey do my Cameraman work jeje (Me, who was in Abuja, just minding my cameraman work and doing it peacefully without any trouble).”
However, the FCT Minister’s aide went further, making a statement that appeared to suggest he was prepared to personally subject Sowore to similar violence.
“The ProtestPrenuer no know say if I need to give him MORO for being a nuisance, na me go do am by myself (The Protestpreneur doesn’t know that if I need to deal with him for being a nuisance, I’ll do it myself).”
“I am an Ekiti man. I am an Ijesha man. When these two are combined…,” he declared.
Olayinka’s latest comments followed an earlier social media post on November 2, 2026, also justified the attack on Sowore for calling President Bola Tinubu a criminal.
“A man is calling your father a criminal without being convicted by any court. If you come see the man and slap him, is it bad?” he asked.
On the same day, he posted on Facebook, “If it is convenient for you to go on radio to call some people’s father a criminal, it should also be convenient for children of that father to give you small small slaps while eating in the man’s territory.
“Criticism is different from being irresponsible. Ko ju bee lo (It’s not more than that).”
In another Faceboook post on November 3, Olayinka challenged Sowore to visit the Obalende, Ojota or Oshodi motor parks in Lagos and publicly describe President Bola Tinubu as a criminal.
“Imagine it was a prominent APC supporter that chopped MORO (was attacked) in Ekiti over the weekend… The story would have been; ‘ANGRY Nigerians attack APC Chieftain In Ekiti’. They would have celebrated it,” he wrote.
“My own is, next, Sowore should try and go to Obalende, Ojota or Oshodi Motor Park in Lagos to go and call President Tinubu a criminal….”
He ended that challenge with the expression, “I wan check something (I want to check something).”
In a post on Friday, he also challenged Sowore to go to Atikankan in Ado-Ekiti and call Tinubu a criminal.
“Next, Cashtivist SowoBolt should try and go to Atikankan in Ado Ekiti, and call President Tinubu a criminal,” he said. “I wan see something (I want to see something).
“Ojú mi là l’Àbújá, ògigì ùyà léé mú nií jẹ l’Èkìtì (My eyes are open in the Abuja, the miracle of suffering can be made in Ekiti).”
“In a follow-up post on Facebook, he said, “Let me say this again, if it is convenient for you to go on radio and call someone who has not been convicted by any court a CRIMINAL, it should also be convenient for you to receive very hot MORO from the man’s children if you enter his territory,” he wrote. “Ko ju bee lo (It’s not more than that).”
