Bisi Akande, the former governor of Osun State and ex-chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has made serious claims about the 2020 #EndSARS protests. Akande believes the protests, which spread across Nigeria, were actually planned to hurt Bola Tinubu, who is now the president of Nigeria.

In an interview on a podcast, Akande suggested that the Obidients movement—those who supported Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election—were behind the protests. He also mentioned that the movement organized it from the United States.

“#EndDSARS was aimed to be the end of Tinubu. Yes, #ENDSARS was designed to be the end of Tinubu. Those behind the ENDSARS knew that’s what they were doing. What do you call them? The Obidients were behind the EndSARS.Yes, it was manufactured from America. And was brought in just to stop him. I’m not saying Obi. The Obidients came from America to do the EndSARS. And later became a movement to form a party and they couldn’t form a party and join whichever party,” Akande said.

The #EndSARS protests began in October 2020, when Nigerians took to the streets to demand an end to police brutality, especially from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). Protesters also called for reforms within the Nigerian Police Force.

“Maybe Obi’s party, I don’t know. Maybe Obi’s movement, I don’t know. But the Obidients were behind the EndSARS. It was well planned, organised with a lot of money from America.”  

When asked why Tinubu didn’t see the protests coming, Akande explained that “not every ambush is detected,” implying that it’s difficult to foresee every planned attack.