No fewer than 18 protesters commemorating the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS protests have reportedly been arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Police.
The nationwide protests, which took place between October 1 and 20, 2020, were in response to police brutality suffered by citizens.
However, on 20 October 2020, lives were reportedly lost at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State during the protest.
While commemorating the day on Sunday, some youths who gathered at the toll gate were tear-gassed and rounded up by the police.
Separate distress messages sent to our correspondent by the National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, Juwon Sanyaolu, and the Initiator of the Creative Change Centre, Omole Ibukun, revealed that the National Spokesperson of the Youth Rights Campaign, Hassan Soweto, was among those arrested.
“Soweto and 17 other members of the #EndBadGovernance Movement Lagos were arrested at the Lekki Toll Gate this morning by the police. They were there to mark the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS killings. Where they have been taken to is not yet known. We demand their immediate and unconditional release. Peaceful protest is a fundamental right. Thank you,” the message read.
Other names listed by Sanyaolu include Remilekun Orunsolu, Olamide Thomas, Michael Adedeji, Adeseye Eshe, and Olamilekan Sanusi.
Meanwhile, according to a tweet by the presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 election, Omoyele Sowore, the protesters were arrested at the Lekki Toll Gate and were beaten before being put into a Black Maria van.
Sowore noted that the security operatives moved the arrested persons to the State Criminal Investigation Department at Panti, in the Yaba area of Lagos.
The tweet, posted via his X handle, read: “The #PoliceNG has arrested over 18 peaceful protesters at #LekkiMassacreRemembrance at #LekkiTollGate. They subjected them to serious beating and torture while being temporarily detained in their Black Maria at the toll gate. Subsequently, they’ve moved them to the notorious SCIID station at Panti in the Yaba area of Lagos.”
Also, an X user identified as Frednardo da Vinci, tweeting as #obinnafrednardo, wrote on Sunday with a video showing some persons chanting solidarity songs in a moving vehicle: “We have just been arrested at the Lekki toll gate where we marched out to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the victims of #EndSARS.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, was unreachable at the time of filing this report, as calls to his mobile number went unanswered and indicated a busy line.
(PUNCH)