Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested 18 activists at the Lekki tollgate during the #EndSARS 4th anniversary.
INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the demonstration was to remember those who lost their lives during the protests against police brutality in October 2020.
It was gathered that the youths were said to have gathered around 8:30 am at the toll gate area with several banners and placards, on Sunday.
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They demanded the full implementation of the reports submitted by various judicial panels of inquiry set up after the 2020 protests.
In a viral video shared on X, the activists were all heard chanting solidarity songs and holding placards to remember the fallen protesters when they were accosted by police operatives and were asked to halt their peaceful procession.
Speaking from the Police van, one of the agitators, identified as Hassan Taiwo Soweto from the Education Right Campaign said: “We are apprehended by a group of police officers under the leadership of the Commissioner Of Police in Lagos.
“I am right now speaking from a Black Maria. We have been beaten and brutalized and my glasses have been damaged as it was struck away by a police officer without any provocation.
READ MORE: Kate Henshaw Honours Lekki Toll Gate Victims On #EndSARS Fourth Anniversary
“We are asking here today when the right to commemorate the dead has become illegal and criminalised in this country.
“We are simply here to mark our brothers and sisters who were brutally killed at the Lekki Toll gate.
“We are asking the international media and the members of the public to prevail on the government, the Tinubu government to stop further attacks on protesters.
“We are never going to give up our right and to continue to demand for justice.”
Also confirming their arrest on Sunday, a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, vial his X page, accused Lagos Police of arresting about 18 activists.
“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.”
https://x.com/InibeheEffiong/status/1847941922825843188?t=Cyo9AkeQf9nLh7QxxE9bbg&s=19
