Lagos police fired teargas on Sunday to disperse protesters gathered at the Lekki Toll Gate for the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS protest. An unconfirmed number of persons were also reportedly arrested during the event.
Videos obtained by our reporter show protesters fleeing in panic, with shots heard from various directions as the crowd scattered.
The protesters had gathered in the morning, holding banners and placards, calling for the full implementation of the recommendations from judicial panels set up after the 2020 protests.
Recall that in October 2020, several young Nigerians took to the streets to protest harassment, killings, and extortion by officers of the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a unit of the Nigerian police.
The movement reached a tragic climax at Lekki Toll Gate, where several protesters were reportedly killed by the Nigerian military.
Despite the efforts of judicial panels formed after the protests to address these grievances, many of their recommendations remain unfulfilled, leaving protest leaders returning to the streets nearly four years later.
One protester, Idowu Ajibade, shared his experience with our reporter: “They fired teargas at us, we were only peacefully marching, but this will not deter us.”
Another protester, who gave his name as Juwon, said, “About five were arrested and they shot at us. The arrested persons are Remilekun Orunlosu, Olamide Thomas, Michael Adedeji, Adesheye Eshe, and Olamilekan Sanusi. Those are the ones we know for now but there are more.”
Lagos State Police Command spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin, while responding to questions on Sunday about the incident stated that the police dispersed the crowd to avoid disrupting traffic at the toll gate.
According to him, “We used minimal force to disperse them.” He has not commented on the reported arrests.
