Two days to the planned #OccupyLekkiTollGate” protests, the Nigerian government has vowed to crush any fresh disturbance at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos by #EndSARS protesters.
The warning was given by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.
Planners of the protest have slated the event to hold on Saturday, February 13, 2021.
They say the protest is to show their disapproval of the decision by the Lagos State government to reopen the Lekki Tollgate, where #EndSARS protesters were killed on October 10, 2020, by men in military attire.
However, the government said there is more to the planned protest.
“Based on the intelligence at the disposal of the Federal Government, some Nigerian activists have linked up with others outside Nigeria, including subversive elements, with a view to destabilizing the country. We cannot and must not allow this to happen,” Mohammed said.
“However, any further resort to violence in the name of #EndSARS will not be tolerated this time,” the minister warned.
“We therefore strongly warn those who are planning to re-occupy Lekki Toll Gate on Saturday to desist.
“We know that many of those who have been loudest on social media in advertising the plan to reconvene in Lagos on Saturday are not even in Nigeria.
“They are elsewhere around the world fanning the embers of violence and inciting gullible people back home. No one should fall for their antics.
Last October young Nigerians took to the streets to protest against Police brutality in the country, especially as exhibited by a unit of the force, called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, which had become synonymous with murder, extortion, and torture.
The #EndSARS protests spread across the country and brought all economic and social activities to their knees. Protesters attacked all law enforcement agents at sight, forcing them off the streets. Street urchins, popularly called Area Boys took advantage of the protests to unleash mayhem on the citizens, raping women, stealing, and setting ablaze anything that was associated with the state.
The protests took their worst turn On October 10, 2020, when men in military uniform opened fire on protesters who had besieged the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, with unconfirmed fatalities.
“The security agents are ready for any eventuality. A situation in which six soldiers and 37 policemen were murdered in cold blood by hoodlums will not repeat itself,” Mohammed said.
“The attack, looting, and razing of 269 private and public property will not happen again. The killing of 57 civilians will not be re-enacted.”
“No government anywhere will allow a repeat of the kind of destruction, killing and maiming wrought by the hijackers of #EndSARS protests last year.
“After all, only one policeman – (plus four others) – was killed in the invasion of the US Capitol in January, yet the FBI has continued to hunt down and prosecute the perpetrators. No life is more important than the other.”
Mohammed warned those planning the protest to shelve it.
He said intelligence report indicated that some of those planners are non-Nigerians
