‘Teargassing pensioners is like a gas chamber’ — Sowore condemns Lagos protest attack

The 2027 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, AAC, Omoyele Sowore, has described the alleged tear-gassing of protesting pensioners at the Lagos State House of Assembly as “equivalent to pushing them into a gas chamber.”

Sowore made the comment in a statement shared on his social media page on Monday, while condemning what he described as an unprovoked attack on the pensioners.

The presidential candidate said the protesters were demanding their legitimate post-retirement entitlements after spending years serving the country.

He criticised the use of tear gas against the elderly protesters, warning that exposure to chemical fumes could have serious consequences for some of them.

“Many of these pensioners may already be vulnerable to the dangerous effects of chemical fumes, and such an assault is grave; it could even have fatal consequences,” Sowore said.

He called for the officers allegedly responsible for the incident to be identified, arrested and investigated.

He maintained that pensioners should be allowed to demand their entitlements and receive dignity and respect rather than what he described as brutality.