Protesters gathered at the Lekki Toll Plaza on Thursday, October 20, 222, fled for safety as Nigerian police officers fired tear gas into the crowd.
The procession was organized to commemorate the second anniversary of the shooting incident on October 20, 2020, and to honor the lives lost whe the armed security forces opened fire on #EndSARS protesters who converged at the toll-gate that night.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, has explained why the protesters were tear-gassed.
In an interview with Channels TV on Thursday, Hundeyin stated that the procession had come to a halt, causing traffic to build up at the toll-gate, prompting police to use tear gas to disperse the crowd and allow free flow of traffic.
According to a Lagos Police spokesman, some aggressive elements wanted to disrupt the peace, so the police had to intervene.
Hundeying also revealed that all of the protesters who had been arrested and locked up in the black maria truck had been released.
Hundeyin ‘s word: “Everything was going fine until they stopped and started laying the coffins on the ground and all. They were doing all these and traffic at the toll gate was building.
“We needed to ensure that there was free flow of traffic in the area, because the agreement was that the procession would not stop, that was why we fired tear gas. After the crowd was dispersed, no single canister of tear gas was fired again.
“Right now there is free flow of traffic in the area and calm has been restored.
“Some troublemakers wanted to breach the peace in the area so they were picked up and locked up in the van. But after everything had calmed down and the protesters dispersed they were all released. I can confirm that we have no one in our custody at the toll-gate now.”
