I Was Approached With an Offer to Assassinate Sowore — Ijele Speaks
Nigerian blogger and social commentator, Chizorom Harrisson Ofoegbu, popularly known as Ijele Speaks, has alleged that he was once approached with an offer to assassinate human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, but said he rejected it.
Ijele made the claim during a podcast appearance titled The King Of The Game, where he spoke about his past relationship with Sowore and how it later turned sour.
Responding to a question on whether his relationship with Sowore would stop him from speaking against him, Ijele said it would not.
“Of course, that does not stop me from saying the truth. That does not… I’ve fought for him too,” he said.
He then claimed he was once offered a chance to kill Sowore.
“Let me say it here. I hope the people he surrounds himself with will reject the type of offer I rejected to assassinate him. I will tell you this for free. Yes, somebody made that offer to me. When we are off air, I will tell you who,” he said.
When asked to clarify if the request was truly to kill Sowore, Ijele replied, “Yes. Yes.”
He said he contacted someone in the Defence Intelligence Agency, DIA, over the alleged plot.
“I called a man, he’s in the DIA. I called him and said, please, are you aware of such a thing? He said no, he’s not aware, that the guy is not even a serious threat as such. I said, then why is this man doing this?” he said.
According to him, he also advised that Sowore’s legal troubles should not be prolonged into the 2023 election period.
“I even told him, this case you people have with him, make sure it doesn’t get to the 2023 election because that’s when you will see the impact of his incarceration. It’s not proper,” he added.
Ijele further claimed he had once lobbied on Sowore’s behalf without the activist’s knowledge.
“I lobbied without telling him. I think I’ve mentioned this to Deji Adeyanju before,” he said.
He added that he used to publicly support Sowore, even while he was a staunch supporter of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“These are things I did for him. I was going to the courtroom when he was going to court, even when I was a staunch Buhari supporter. Go to my old YouTube account. I’ve lost access to it, but you will still see every programme I was doing. You will see ‘Free Omoyele Sowore’ there,” he said.
However, he said their fallout began over Sowore’s position on Nnamdi Kanu.
“What brought my rift with him was this Nnamdi Kanu issue. You are saying you fought for me against the criminal pastors, but you went and joined those that the criminal pastors used,” he said.
Despite his criticism, Ijele acknowledged Sowore’s influence as an activist.
“Like when it comes to these activists in Nigeria, believe me, no one comes close to him,” he said.
He also praised Sowore for being accessible to ordinary Nigerians.
“He’s better than each and every one of them because he makes himself easily accessible to people that have a problem. When it comes to fighting for the downtrodden, he knows it. He knows how to do that,” he said.
However, he accused Sowore of being too focused on opposing the Federal Government.
“Sometimes the end goal is just to antagonise the Federal Government. There is this mindless hatred. If you notice, they hardly post any good news,” he added.
Titilope Adako is a talented and intrepid journalist, dedicated to shedding light on the untold stories of Osun State and Nigeria. Through incisive reporting, she tackles a broad spectrum of topics, from politics and social justice to culture and entertainment, with a commitment to accuracy, empathy, and inspiring positive change.
