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NIGERIA-DEMONSTRATION-POLICE
Nigeria police arrest protesters at symbolic Lagos tollgate
LAGOS, Feb 13, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Nigerian police arrested small groups of
protesters in Lagos on Saturday after they tried to hold a rally demanding
justice for victims of a deadly shooting during demonstrations last year.
Activists had called for new protests on Saturday after a judicial panel
authorised the reopening of the city’s giant Lekki tollgate, where security
forces shot at protesters in October.
Last year’s mostly youth-led #EndSARS protests against police brutality and
bad governance brought Africa’s largest city to a standstill in October in a
campaign that won backing from many high-profile celebrities.
Police on Saturday bundled about 20 protesters, some chanting “What do we
want? Justice”, into black vans at the tollgate where security forces had
deployed since Friday evening, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
“For the people that died, for the people that have been amputated. For the
people that have been shot, for the victims of EndSARS, we want justice,” one
young protester told AFP before police snatched him.
“Justice is all we want, the tollgate should not be reopened.”
Small groups of protesters arrived at the tollgate area, some sitting on
the ground or peacefully offering their arms to police in a sign they would
be arrested.
Traffic was flowing normally, with some drivers chanting “End SARS” as they
passed by.
One young protester in a red T-shirt managed to sprint away from police
chasing him.
“Lekki tollgate should be made a museum of resistance and not a monument
for money making,” said Damilare Adebola, 24, who spoke from the police van
where he was being held.
– Looting, unrest –
Nigeria’s federal government and Lagos police authorities this week had
warned against holding new protests at Lekki, saying the rallies could
descend into violence in the name of justice.
“We are calling on all Nigerian authorities to demonstrate commitment to
protect the right to peaceful protest,” watchdog Amnesty International said
on Twitter.
The original #EndSARS protests, named after the SARS police force accused
of abuses, spread in a major challenge to President Muhammadu Buhari’s
government, even after the SARS unit was disbanded and officials promised
reforms.
The demonstrations ended abruptly after the deadly shooting in Lagos and a
wave of looting and unrest that followed.
Security forces say they only used blank rounds to break up groups of
protesters who had defied a curfew, though Amnesty International said
soldiers shot dead at least 10 people.
An investigation into last year’s violence at Lekki has stalled with
representatives of the armed forces failing to appear before the panel.
After October’s deadly shooting, the United Nations, African Union,
European Union and Britain urged the authorities not to use excessive force.
The wave of protests in October had been the biggest display of people
power in years in Africa’s most populous nation as young people gathered to
demand broader changes.
The huge highway tollgate at Lekki in Lagos became the epicentre of the
protest movement with musicians and celebrities joining rallies there during
weeks of demonstrations.
BSS/AFP/IJ/1915 hrs