Independence Day: Police arrest 30 protesters, detain Inspector for assaulting journalist

The Lagos State Police Command on Thursday arrested 30 protesters at various locations within the state for unlawful assembly and conduct likely to cause a breach of public peace during the Independence Day celebration.

This indication is contained in press statement, signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), SP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, and made available to newsmen in Lagos.

Adejobi said that the protesters put on crested vests of #RevolutionNow# with placards and gathered in numbers in violation of the COVID-19 protocol in the state.

“They will be charged to court on Friday, Oct. 2.,” he said.

The officer also said that the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, Hakeem Odumosu, earlier ordered for the immediate detention and orderly room trial of one Inspector Adadu Innocent.

Adejobi said that the inspector, attached to PMF 22 Ikeja, had been detained for hitting and injuring one Mr Kayode Jaiyeola of the Punch Newspaper with a stick at Maryland, Lagos.

“Odumosu personally moved the injured journalist to the Police Cottage (Hospital) at Area F, GRA, Ikeja, where he personally waited and ensured that the injured journalist was given immediate and good medical treatment.

“An eyewitness account from senior officers on ground, revealed that the policeman suddenly attacked the journalist, without any previous altercation or confrontation.

“This propelled the commissioner to order for his trial in order to serve as a deterrent to others who are fond of engaging in unprofessional and unethical conducts,” he said.

According to Adejobi, Odumosu urged the general public to believe in the command’s commitment to sanitise and reform the policing system in Lagos State in conformity with international standards.