The British national declared wanted by the Nigeria Police Force, Andrew Wynne, has said he won’t be turning himself in because he feared for his life in the hands of the police.
The police had on Monday declared Wynne and one Lucky Obiyan, a Nigerian, wanted and placed N20m bounty on them for allegedly trying to overthrow President Bola Tinubu by allegedly financing the recent #EndBadGovernance or #Hunger protest in the country.
Wynne had denied the allegations and accused the police of not extending an invitation to him.
But reacting on Tuesday, the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, insisted that the police had invited Wynne and given him ample opportunity to come forward to prove his innocence.
“We have established an offence or offences against him (Wynne), and we have even declared him wanted. His accomplices have been charged in court. Let him come out. At least those people worked for him. As a good leader, a businessman, and a smart man who mobilised and organised sleeper cells to cause problems in Nigeria, he should have come out as a good leader and proven to his followers that he was a good leader. Let him come and meet us,” Adejobi said on Tuesday.
But speaking in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday, Wynne said he would not be alive if he surrendered to the police.
Referring to the case of his employee, Yomi, who he said was brutally tortured by the police for days after being arrested at the bookshop, Wynne declared that he would not let the same fate happen to him.
Wynne, a 70-year-old man, stated that if he surrendered to the police, he wouldn’t survive the year.
He said, “The police say, if I am innocent I should give myself up. I am innocent. Like Yomi, for example, Yomi is completely innocent, give myself up and be tortured?
“I mean, it’s beyond fear, isn’t it? Yomi is my son and he’s completely innocent and was tortured for three days.
“And the police expect me to come back to Nigeria and be tortured? My fear is I would not be alive. It’s not about fear of torture and being beaten up by the police, it’s fear for my life. I don’t think I would survive the year if I came back to Nigeria.”