Andrew Wynne, the British national declared wanted on Monday by the Nigeria Police, for allegedly plotting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration, has denied the allegation.
Wynne, who spoke on Monday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today from his base in the United Kingdom, said he was not even aware he had been labelled a fugitive.
The rebuttal comes a few hours after the Nigeria Police placed a N20m bounty on his head along with a Nigerian, Lucky Obiyan, who was described as an accomplice.
Addressing journalists on Monday, the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, accused the Briton of building a network of sleeper cells to topple the government and plunge the nation into chaos.
But Wynne declared that he couldn’t have been scheming to destabilise the leadership of a country that accommodated him for 25 years.
He said, “I am not aware that I am a fugitive. I am not aware that I am running away from the law. I have been visiting Nigeria for 25 years and have had a bookshop in the NLC office right in the centre of Abuja for seven years. All that time, of course, the security forces have paid no interest in me.
“I have always had one nationality. The name on my passport is Andrew Wynne and I operate with a nickname. I think it really started as differentiating in the sense of the broad political education work that I do with the bookshop.
“I am more than happy to talk to the police and have a discussion on WhatsApp or Zoom. I am more than happy to go to London and meet with officials from the Nigerian High Commission. If they want to start a conversation, then I think that is more than adequate.”
Wynne’s wife (names withheld), who also spoke on the programme, distanced her husband from the alleged terror act, saying the allegation was deliberately concocted for witch-hunt.
She blamed a certain Olumide Inokunye (sic) as the brain behind the raid on her husband’s bookshop at the NLC complex and the attempt to frame her husband.
“We have been together for nine years now. Eight years of friendship and we got married last year. My husband has been falsely accused. He has never been a terrorist.
“He is being accused because one Mr. Olumide Inokunye (sic) owes him and is not willing to pay him. The case is still in court even now. So, he is just doing everything he can to intimidate and throw him out of the country.
“My husband is in the UK now. He came in at the expiry date of his (visa) and had to go back.”
Earlier on Monday, the police declared Wynne, aka Andrew Povich, and a Nigerian, Lucky Obiyan, wanted for allegedly plotting to overthrow the democratically elected government in the country.
The police accused the British national of building a network of sleeper cells to topple the government and plunge the nation into chaos.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said Wynne rented a space at Labour House and established a school to serve as a decoy.
He said, “The Nigeria Police Force has launched a comprehensive investigation into the activities of a foreign national and subversive elements plotting to undermine the democratically elected government in Nigeria through unconstitutional regime change and orchestrating violence across the country.
“Following extensive intelligence gathering and collaboration with other security agencies, nine suspects have been apprehended, who received substantial financial backing from foreign sources to destabilize the country. Preliminary findings suggest they orchestrated and funded violent protests, disseminated false information, and engaged in other unlawful activities to create anarchy and justify their illegal plot to overthrow the democratically elected government.
“Investigations have identified a foreign mercenary, Andrew Wynne (also known as Andrew Povich or Drew Povey), a British national, who built a network of sleeper cells to topple the government and plunge the nation into chaos. He rented a space at Labour House, Abuja, for an ‘Iva Valley Bookshop’ and established ‘STARS of Nations Schools’ as a cover for his subversive activities.”
Adejobi said documentary evidence and confessions revealed that Wynne provided finance and operational guidance to allegedly topple an elected government in the country.
