The presence of heavily armed policemen was not enough to deter planners of the #OccupyLekkiTollGate on Saturday. And as they arrived, they were promptly arrested by policemen who had kept vigil at the toll plaza.
Those arrested so far include a popular activist and comedian, Debo Adebayo, also known as Mr. Macaroni.
Those arrested were forced into police vans popularly known as Black Maria, and driven away.
The organisers said the protest was in part to express their anger at the decision of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Enquiry to reopen the tollgate.
Lekki Tollgate was the scene of a bloody encounter on October 20, 2020, when unidentified soldiers fired live bullets at protesters under the #EndSARS protesters leaving many injured. Nobody claimed responsibility for sending the soldiers to shoot at the protesters.
An activist simply known as Dabira led the new protesters, who were all arrested at the scene.
Dabira, before her arrest, had asked Nigerians to “stand up” for the country, as she insisted that the arrest of the unarmed protesters was wrong.
On his part, Mr Macaroni, in a Live Instagram before his arrest, said, “How did you think the reopening of tollgate is the next line of action? If you didn’t do that today, we won’t have a right to be here.
“It is a disrespect to say that you want to reopen at this tollgate. Are you spitting on the graves of the dead?
“Na military regime we dey? We also have a right to be heard. We have a right to protest peacefully.”
Responding to the arrests, Amnesty International Nigeria tweeted “Today Amnesty International received reports of the arrest of some protesters #EndSARS at the #Lekkitollgate #Lagos. We are calling on all Nigerian authorities to demonstrate the commitment to protecting the right to peaceful protest.”
Before Saturday, the Federal and Lagos State governments, as well as the police, had warned the protesters to change their mind, warning of a swift crackdown on the movement.
“The police command has gathered credible intelligence that some hidden agents of destruction and shadow parties that orchestrated the last EndSARS violence have concluded plans to cause another mayhem in Lagos and spread the same to other parts of the country, tactically and spontaneously, like the recent violence,” Hakeem Odumosu, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, said on Friday.
“Premised on the available intelligence and due threat analyses carried out on the planned protest, the Police Command perceives such proposed protest as a calculated attempt to cause pandemonium and massive destruction of lives and property under whatever guise; such will not be allowed to hold in Lagos.”
