According to a report by News Central TV, on Wednesday February 18, 2026, a former Minister of Youth and Sports, Solomon Dalung, has made a sensational claim linking the “unusual” gas used on protesters at the National Assembly to recent allegations of toxic chemical importation by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Speaking to reporters in Abuja on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, Dalung demanded an immediate investigation into the substance deployed by security forces to disperse the #OccupyNASS demonstrators, suggesting the government is moving toward lethal force to suppress dissent.
Dalung’s alarm follows a controversial public letter by former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, who recently queried the NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, over the reported procurement of thallium sulphate a highly toxic and odorless poison from Poland.
While the ONSA has officially denied these claims and referred the matter to the DSS, Dalung argues that the aggressive physical reaction experienced by protesters this week gives credence to the fears of chemical weaponization.
“The summary of it all is that this government needs to explain that substance that was used on Nigerians must be investigated because already there is an allegation by the former governor of Kaduna (Nasiru El-Rufai) that the national security advisor imported into this country poisonous substances for whatever reasons that have not been explained,” Dalung stated.
The former minister, who previously described the gas as causing sensational burning that lasted for hours, characterized the security response as a departure from traditional crowd control.
He accused the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of adopting a “unique” and deadly strategy to handle peaceful opposition.
“And then here you are a very unique approach to dealing with a protest has been introduced by the Nigerian government meaning that this government is willing to kill to remain in power,” he alleged…. Discover More
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