Sowore, in a post on Wednesday, described the arrest and continued detention of Oddiri as another blatant abuse of power by security agencies that have turned themselves into instruments of oppression rather than institutions of law.
Former presidential candidate and human rights advocate, Omoyele Sowore, has condemned the unlawful detention of a Lagos-based lawyer, Moses Oddiri, by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), allegedly acting on the instructions of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede.
Sowore, in a post on Wednesday, described the arrest and continued detention of Oddiri as another blatant abuse of power by security agencies that have turned themselves into instruments of oppression rather than institutions of law.
According to him, Oddiri has spent nearly two weeks in illegal custody after his arrest in Lagos, and was subsequently transferred to the DSS headquarters in Abuja, despite not being charged to court or granted access to due process.
The activist demanded Oddiri's immediate and unconditional release.
"I strongly condemn the unlawful detention of lawyer Moses Oddiri by the lawless DSS, purportedly on the orders of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Chair Ola Olukoyede, and demand his immediate and unconditional release. Lawyer Oddiri has spent nearly two weeks in detention following his arrest in Lagos and has been reportedly transferred to the DSS headquarters in Abuja. #FreeOddiriNOW," Sowore stated.
Previously, SaharaReporters reported that concerned indigenes of the Orogun Oil Producing Community in Delta State, Nigeria, accused the EFCC Chairman, Mr Olukoyede, and the Managing Director of Heritage Energy Operational Services Ltd (Nigeria subsidiary), Mr. Ado Oseragbaje, of conspiring to steal over N4 billion (approximately £2 million) intended for the impoverished community.
SaharaReporters earlier reported how human rights activist and lawyer, Oddiri Esq, was abducted from his home by some operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), allegedly on the orders of the EFCC Chairman, Olukoyede.
The accusation follows a petition submitted by the community by representatives, including Moses Oddiri, Andrew Oddiri, Ovoke Akpobor, and Favor Aduku, in July 2024, requesting EFCC intervention over missing statutory community development payments from Heritage Energy.
According to the petition, Heritage Energy, which took control of the Orogun oil wells in 2018, failed to disclose the payment of these funds to the community.
"The funds, which should have been paid directly to Orogun, were instead concealed, and the community never knew about their existence," said a source familiar with the petition, who spoke with SaharaReporters.
"Heritage Energy claims to have paid periodically, but none of it reached the indigenes in the decades since operations started."
The controversy escalated in December 2024, when an EFCC investigator, Mr. Adebowale, reportedly contacted the petitioners, requesting they travel from Lagos to Abuja regarding a recovery linked to the petition.
Due to previous suspicious conduct by the commission, the petitioners insisted on a formal invitation.
Meanwhile, this led to a letter sent to one of their solicitors, Mr. Patrick Agun, dated January 10, 2025, for a meeting scheduled on January 27, 2025.
However, the letter was reportedly delivered two days late, raising further suspicion.
"In February 2025, the EFCC Chairman Olukoyede allegedly disclosed in person to one of the petitioners that Heritage Energy's Managing Director, Ado Oseragbaje, had paid over four billion naira into an Orogun community account, and that a lien had been placed on the funds by the EFCC.
"He said over four billion naira was recovered and placed under EFCC lien, but the identities of the signatories to the community account were withheld from us," a source told SaharaReporters.
Despite repeated demands, Olukoyede reportedly failed to convene a promised stakeholders' meeting, nor did he disclose the account signatories to the petitioners.
"We wrote formally to the chairman on April 7, 2025, demanding the identities of the account signatories. The letter was received by the EFCC headquarters, but no response was given," another source said.
The dispute further deepened when a separate payment of N4.1billion was made to the Uherieve Host Community account on January 31, 2025.
Heritage Energy's MD, in a letter dated July 10, 2025, admitted to this payment, which was linked to a petition from the Kokori/Isoitseja communities, not Orogun.
The EFCC reportedly only obtained evidence of this Uherieve payment in May 2025, months after Olukoyede had already disclosed the Orogun account recovery.
"This is a clear case of collusion between the EFCC chairman and Heritage MD to misappropriate funds intended for Orogun," one of the sources said.
"The recovery of over four billion naira for Orogun has effectively been stolen, and the EFCC is now attempting to cover up by confusing it with Uherieve's payment.
"This is the reason the EFCC chairman used the DSS to abduct Moses Oddiri: he had written a petition to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) in London requesting an investigation into Olukoyede."
Sources confirm that repeated demands by the Orogun community for the release of these funds, including letters sent on July 2, 2025, to the EFCC, were ignored.
The community's lawyers, Patrick Agun & Associates, have also noted that the funds were meant to be paid into the Orogun community account specifically opened for this purpose, as directed by the EFCC.
"The commission's chairman and the Heritage MD have shown blatant disregard for the statutory rights of Orogun indigenes," a source told SaharaReporters.
"The EFCC's actions suggest intentional misappropriation."