Federal Government Prevents #EndSARS Advocate, Modupe Odele From Leaving Nigeria

Modupe Odele, a member of the Feminist Coalition and promoter of the #EndSARS protest, has revealed that the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) stopped her from travelling out of the country.

Odele, a lawyer who was actively involved in the #EndSARS campaign against police brutality, offered free legal aid to persons who were arrested during the nationwide demonstrations. She also helped raised about N147 million for the cause.

In a newsletter sent out on Monday, the lawyer disclosed that she was detained and prevented from travelling out of Nigeria possibly because of her alleged role in the #EndSARS protests.

“For my birthday, I had planned a trip to the Maldives. It was really for a break as the events of the last three weeks have exhausted my mind and body in a way I have never been exhausted in my life.

“I went to the airport, passed through immigration, and while I was putting my bags through the body and baggage scanner, the immigration officer who had previously cleared me, called me back. He told me he had orders from above to detain me.

“Okay, at this point I’m like excuse me, my flight is in an hour. On what grounds are you detaining me?” He didn’t respond. Instead, he goes to his computer where he typed in my name and something that looked like a ‘wanted poster’ popped up on the portal.

“He blocked my view so I couldn’t see most of it but I saw some of it. And it read something like – ‘This person is under investigation by XYZ Intelligence Agency. If seen, they should be apprehended on sight.

“They held me for a little over an hour, seized my passport and I missed my flight. My passport is still seized up until this very moment and I have still not been made aware of what I am under investigation for.”

Sharing update via her Twitter post on Tuesday, Odele said she is safe and that she has been invited back with her lawyers. But she hasn’t known why they prevented her from travelling on Sunday.

“Hello everyone. Thank you so much. I’m fine and I’m safe. We haven’t confirmed yet why I was stopped on Sunday or by whom. But I’ve been invited back in with my lawyers today. I’ll update when I have more information but please don’t spread false news. That is dangerous,” she tweeted.

KanyiDaily had also reported how a 20-year-old journalist, Onifade Pelumi, was killed after he was arrested by the police for filming a video showing a popular Lagos-based politician, Abiodun Bolarinwa, shooting #EndSARS protesters at Abule Egba.