Demonstrators gathered at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos on Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS protest.
The memorial was to remember those who lost their lives during the #EndSARS protests against police brutality in October 2020.
The youths were said to have gathered around 8:30 am at the toll gate with several banners and placards. They demanded the full implementation of the reports submitted by various judicial panels of inquiry set up after the 2020 protests.
However, reports emerged that police operatives dispersed the demonstrators and arrested some of them.
A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, accused operatives of the Lagos State Police Command of arresting about 18 activists, including Comrade Taiwo Soweto.
He described the protest as peaceful and alleged that police brutalised some protesters and detained some at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Yaba, Lagos.
According to him, the action by police operatives were unconstitutional and unacceptable.
“Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto and 17 other activists have been arrested at the Lekki Toll Gate,” he wrote on X.
“They were brutalized and are currently being detained in State CID Panti by the police for commemorating the memorial of the Lekki Toll Gate Massacre.
“They were entirely peaceful and did not disrupt public peace in anyway. We will do everything under the law to secure their release. This is unconstitutional and unacceptable.”
Fuck Nigeria as a country. Always abusing human rights. It’s their rights to protest peacefully.I am weeping for Nigeria everyday.