Officers from the Lagos State Police Command sprayed tear gas to disperse demonstrators gathered to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS protest.
On Sunday morning, videos showed demonstrators running as police fired bullets.
Around 8:30 a.m., the protestors gathered at the toll gate, holding multiple banners and placards calling for the complete implementation of the reports provided by several judicial panels of inquiry established following the 2020 protests.
In October 2020, thousands of young people gathered in major cities around the country to protest the ongoing harassment, killings, and extortion by officers from the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a Nigerian police squad.
The protest culminated at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, where several youths were reportedly killed and many others severely injured following the intervention of the Nigerian military.
In the aftermath of the protests, judicial panels were established across various states to assess and review the protesters’ demands.
However, almost four years later, protest leaders have expressed deep regret that many of the panels’ recommendations remain unimplemented.
Speaking on Sunday, one of the protesters, identified simply as Excel, said he fell into the gutter while running from the teargas fired by the officers.
“They have started firing teargas at us. I fell into the gutter; I was hit on the head,” he told PUNCH Online.
Another protester, Bayo Are, said, “I was hit too. I’m not really injured, just a few scratches on my body. Some people have also been arrested.”
When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, stated that there was no confrontation, but the police had to disperse the protesters to prevent traffic disruption at the Lekki Toll Gate.
“They were told to disperse, but they were adamant; we had to use minimal force to disperse them,” Hundeyin said.
