Get Guardian on GoogleA presidential aspirant Omoyele Sowore and members of his #TakeItBack movement were on Monday allegedly attacked at the Ooni of Ife’s place in Ile Ife.
A footage posted to Sowore’s Facebook page showed the aspirant and his campaign tear-gassed while prostrating before the Ooni of Ife.
Sowore, the founder of online news platform – Sahara Reporters, while giving the account of the incident in another video, said his team and some students of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), who accompanied him to the palace were also physically assaulted by thugs within the palace premises.
He said while they were protesting against the three-hour delay before they could meet the Ooni, ‘someone out of anger’ set a tear gas in the hall they were meeting with the King.
He added that the Ooni was ‘practically choking’.
The video also showed some persons, suspected to be chiefs, coughing due to the tear gas in the royal court.
At a point, they were forced to exit the room where they were sitting.
The Ooni, however, condemned the attack, saying such had never happened before in a palace in Nigeria and called for calm and restraint on both sides.
He regretted the ugly incident, describing it as embarrassing.
