Obianuju Catherine Udeh, known as DJ Switch, and self-described activist ‘Rinu Oduala have been refused asylum in Canada and are presently ‘holed up’ in the Benin Republic, according to Dr. Kemi Olunloyo, an investigative journalist who has been following the matter.
Dr. Olunloyo had earlier made a similar claim about the controversial self-described journalist, David Hundeyin, who according to her scoop tried to get into the UK after claiming that he was persecuted in Nigeria for being a member of the LBGTQ community – a claim unlikely to be true given Hundeyin’s self-admitted heterosexuality and previous marriage to a woman before an abrupt and dramatic divorce.
Dr. Olunloyo maintains that DJ Switch, ‘Rinu Oduala, and David Hundeyin are trapped in the Benin Republic, a French-speaking West African country neighboring Nigeria, where they are hiding in safe houses. All three are connected to the ENDSARS campaign against police brutality that turned violent and saw thugs and other criminal elements looting and vandalizing stores, prisons, media houses, and other restricted facilities across the country.
DJ Switch was at the Lekki Toll Gate where the protesters had gathered for weeks, halting movement and grinding the commercial city of Lagos to a halt, on the night security forces broke up the protest and restored normalcy. She claimed that she witnessed the killings of unarmed protesters and joined a team of other protesters to dump the bodies at the feet of the security team at the location.
However, when summoned by the inquiry panel set up to investigate allegations of a ‘massacre’ at the Lekki Toll Gate, she eloped the country and never brought any evidence forward. Other citizens affected by the activities of SARS, a rogue police unit scrapped by the Federal Government in response to the demands of the protesters, testified freely at the inquest and were awarded damages for their losses in the years past.
‘Rinu Oduala, one of the leaders of the protest, also eloped citing concerns for her safety and security. Her role in the ENDSARS campaign has drawn mixed feelings, as she continues to face allegations of embezzlement of donated funds from factions of the so-called ‘leaderless’ protest.
