Emeka Ike speaks out on feeling unsafe after INEC data leak

Nollywood actor and politician, Emeka Ike, has said he felt "insecure for the first time in his life" after his personal data was leaked by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a video shared on X on Thursday, Ike, who is running for a House of Representatives seat under the Nigeria Democratic Congress, called the incident an abuse of power. He expressed worries about the safety of citizens and data protection in Nigeria.

Ike revealed that he has started legal action against Lere Olayinka, a media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

"It was shocking. It was so disturbing that I felt unsafe. I felt insecure. For the first time, I’m feeling like, is anybody safe in this country anymore? That kind of feeling, that’s what it was like to me," he said.

He claimed that this incident showed what he sees as political recklessness and abuse of authority.

"It’s an abuse of power. It’s the extreme to radicalism, political radicalism. It’s basically telling Nigerians that we’re in charge, we know you all, we’ll do what we want and we can get away with it. That’s very, very irritating and I feel very disturbed by this," he added.

The actor shared that his legal team has already reached out to the involved parties. This includes Olayinka, INEC, his political party, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the police to formally record his complaint.

"Obviously, I will go to court, and my lawyer has already written to Lere and INEC. He has also written my party, the DSS, and the police so that it can be on record that stuff like this has happened in Nigeria," he said.