A Nigerian human rights activist has fled the country after a family in Aluu, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers state attempted to attack and kill him for speaking against injustice perpetuated by the community rulers.
The man identified as Olaniyi Babatunde John, is a member of Aluu Youth Community Union and an evangelist, accused community leaders of looting money allocated to the community by Shell Nigeria.
According to a resident, animosity began when Mr. Olaniyi complained that the oil company had given the community money as settlement following an oil spill that has affected the river, which in turn affected fishermen in the area.
As a compensation for the oil spill, Shell met with the community leaders and agreed to a settlement which was not duly disbursed, sparking unrest in the community.
“His belief and principle to stand on the side of justice has earned him more problems than accolades,” the resident that maintained anonymity said.
“The family of the four boys that were wrongly killed in Aluu are still after him and have asked the police to arrest him on trump charges because they see his activities as an impediment to them receiving more money from the community leaders” he said.
Another resident who identified himself as Tonye, explained to local journalists that Mr. Olaniyi’s family was attacked even after he fled the community after many years and when he returned in January 2016.
“Some senior members of the community demanded that his parents produce him (John) but when they failed to do so, they were attacked and his father was subsequently rushed to the hospital,” he said.
He noted that no one wants to associate with Mr Olaniyi’s family, for fear of being targeted and victimized. “John has been accused of promoting homosexual and lesbianism since his return to Nigeria, even community union and community leaders have urged the police to arrest him because homosexuality is banned in Nigeria and because of his falsely alleged involvement in the killing and nuisances that they claim he and his boys are causing in the society. “They are still looking for him and will charge him with anything possible just to put him behind bars or even kill him to silence him for good.
