Protesters gathered at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos on Sunday to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS movement.
The memorial was held to honor those who lost their lives during the October 2020 protests against police brutality.
The group, which arrived at the toll gate around 8:30 am, carried banners and placards, calling for the full implementation of the reports submitted by various judicial panels of inquiry formed after the protests.
However, reports indicated that police officers dispersed the demonstrators and arrested several participants.
Human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong accused the Lagos State Police Command of arresting about 18 activists, including Comrade Taiwo Soweto. He described the protest as peaceful and claimed that some protesters were brutalized and detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Yaba, Lagos.
Effiong condemned the actions of the police, calling them unconstitutional and unacceptable.
Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto and 17 other activists have been arrested at the Lekki Toll Gate.
They were brutalized and are currently being detained in State CID Panti by the police for commemorating the memorial of the Lekki Toll Gate Massacre.
They were entirely peaceful and… pic.twitter.com/flpq2QuEqw
— Inibehe Effiong (@InibeheEffiong) October 20, 2024
“Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto and 17 other activists have been arrested at the Lekki Toll Gate,” he wrote on X.
“They were brutalized and are currently being detained in State CID Panti by the police for commemorating the memorial of the Lekki Toll Gate Massacre.
“They were entirely peaceful and did not disrupt public peace in anyway. We will do everything under the law to secure their release. This is unconstitutional and unacceptable.”
‘Illegal’
However, the police authorities criticized the gathering, labeling the demonstrators’ actions as illegal.
The Lagos State Police Command argued that the protesters failed to seek police clearance and permission before organizing the demonstration, which they claimed was a necessary procedure.
“Constitutionally, they should write to me as the Commissioner of Police of their intention to do so, they did write to us and as such, any of such gathering is illegal and by extension, police will not allow it to happen,” the State Police Commissioner, Olanrewaju Ishola, told Channels Television.
The CP explained that the police authorities were not unmindful of the constitutional rights of citizens, but stressed that while exercising their rights, they must consider the place the laws of the land above other considerations.
According to him, police operatives have manned strategic parts of the state to avoid any planned breakdown of law and order.
“What we had was gotten on social media. There are some people who want to celebrate the fourth anniversary of EndSARS.
“We’ve been here since 12 a.m. overnight and all over Lagos, we have taken over the traditional points where protesters can gather. We are not averse to anybody exercising their fundamental rights, but the law of the land must be emplaced. So that’s the very essence of why we are here today.
“So far so good, it’s been total non-acceptance of any disruption here and throughout the state in general. Earlier in the day, I went around all parts of Lagos like I said, all the traditional points, Gana Park, Freedom Park, Ikeja Underbridge, Alausa Mall, places of government infrastructure that they may want to unleash me.
“We have all the place covered, and we have Lagos undercover, security-wise. I promise Lagos they are going to experience better policing and they have reasons to be Lagosians. It is a state that works, nobody can disrupt the activities of the government here,” he said.