By Ato Kehinde
Mr Hakeem Odumosu, Commissioner of Police in Lagos State has justified his order to his men to fire tear gas at youths marking the anniversary of #End SARS memorial protest in the state.
He said the protesters went back on their promise to start and finish the memorial between 8 am and 10 am, leaving room for suspected thugs armed with machete clubs and rods to hijack the otherwise peaceful protest.
Odumosu said the action would prevent a breakdown of law and order. He disclosed that any demonstration beyond the agreed time constitutes a nuisance and will not be tolerated.
According to him, “The protest was between 8 am and 10 am, anything, after 10 am, is a nuisance.
“I discussed with them (the youths marking the memorial protest) and they said they will end the protest by 10 o’clock. Other people doing it now are just causing a nuisance. some with machete, hammer, are they protesters or miscreants?
“The protesters are free; they have done their thing and left. Any other persons remaining are the miscreants, hoodlums that want to capitalise on that to attack innocent people and start robbing people. We will not allow that.”
Meanwhile there are viral video of police brutalisation of passers-by and molestation of journalists and arresting passers-by and bundling them into a waiting Black Maria, Lagos State. A youth protesting his innocence even had a reddish substance poured into his face by a policeman before he was thrown into the van.
