Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command, on Sunday fired tear gas canisters at protesters who converged on Lekki Toll Gate to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS.
In a video shared by Sahara Reporters on X, activists representing the Take It Back Movement wearing orange berets, alongside other protesters, could be seen carrying placards and banners with anti-government inscriptions while singing solidarity songs without obstructing vehicular traffic.
Security operatives approached the protesters, one of who explained that they just wanted to observe a procession, but one of the officers responded about five times saying “you cannot observe anything here”.
Shortly after the short, mild verbal engagement, and despite not being incited by the protesters, the operatives, some of whom wore vests of the Rapid Response Squad suddenly fired several shots of tear gas at the demonstrators who scampered to different directions for safety.
As of the time of filing this report, it has yet to be ascertained if the incident escalated.
Attempt to get comments from the police was abortive, as the state police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin, didn’t respond to calls and text messages sent to his mobile.
The Amnesty International on October 21, 2020 said security operatives shot and killed at least 12 peaceful protesters against police brutality at Lekki and Alausa protest grounds on October 20, while 56 people died across the country during the protest period which started on October 8.
The state Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was alleged to have sent the operatives to the protest ground in Lekki, initially denied any record of death but later claimed only two people died, without stating their cause of death.
However, the governor in a later twist, on July 23, 2023, approved the mass burial of 103 protesters who were killed during the EndSARS, adding credence to allegations that the military took away corpses of some of those killed at the protest grounds.
(Peoples Gazette)