Human rights groups, activists, and people on social media have criticized the Lagos State Police Command and the Lagos State administration for arresting and using force on people who protested the demolition of their homes in sections of the state yesterday.
According to The PUNCH, the condemnation came after the police used tear gas to break up hundreds of protesters who had gathered in Ikeja to protest what they called their forced transfer without fair compensation or relocation.
People from Makoko, Oworonshoki, Owode-Onirin, Oko Baba, and other areas took part in the protests. They held signs that said things like “A megacity cannot be built on the bones and blood of the poor,” “Urban poor is not a crime,” “Stop killing us,” “Justice for Owode-Onirin traders,” and “Lagos is not for the rich alone.” They also sang songs about being together.
The protest started in the morning and picked up speed at the Ikeja Under Bridge, where protesters assembled before marching to the Lagos State House of Assembly in Alausa.
The demonstrators asked for suitable relocation plans at different times if the government was going to tear down their homes. They also asked for recompense for people who died during prior demolitions.
When the protesters got to the Assembly gate, the Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, halted them and told them they couldn’t go into the legislative complex.
The protest leaders didn’t like what the police chief said and said they wouldn’t leave until they were allowed to talk directly to the politicians.
Some MPs went outside to talk to the protesters as tensions rose, but the protesters refused, saying that the only place for a conversation was within the Assembly.
A few moments later, the standoff turned into chaos as police officers shot tear gas canisters at the crowd to break it up.
There was a lot of thick smoke in the neighborhood, which made people worry and had demonstrators run in different directions. A lot of individuals got hurt, and reporters who were covering the protest also had to run for safety.
Sulaiman Adeniyi, a videographer for PUNCH, passed out after breathing in tear gas fumes. A lady with a newborn in her arms was spotted running to safety while holding her baby. A tear gas canister hit one demonstrator in the leg, causing an injury. Some police officers were also seen running away from the smoke.
In an interview with News Central Television that was uploaded on the station’s verified X handle, Jimoh defended the police action by saying that the demonstration violated the rights of other people using the road.
He said that protesters barricaded the highway, threw rocks at him, and yelled at him.
Jimoh added, “Protesting peacefully is fine, but when it blocks a public road, it puts lives at risk, including the lives of the protesters.”
“I can’t let cars run over demonstrators while I’m in charge. I told them to vacate the highway after four lawmakers spoke to them and they still wouldn’t go. Instead, they pushed my cops, making them fall on their guns.
“We only used a little force—tear gas—so that millions of Nigerians who use that road could get to work.”
An activist named Ms. Yemi Adamolekun, who was at the rally, disagreed with the police’s story, though.
She added that the protesters were calm and disputed reports that they obstructed the road or hurt the commissioner.
“They were calm, and when the tear gas was shot, they were told to sit down so that refreshments and water could be supplied.
“The police had already blocked the lane closest to the Assembly.” These people don’t have a house. Where do you think they should go? “They didn’t block the road,” she stated.
Adamolekun said that the fight could have been averted if the demonstrators had been let inside a specific part of the Assembly complex.
Debo Adeniran, the President of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, also spoke out against the use of force to break up the protests, calling it a breach of residents’ fundamental rights.
He argued that peaceful rallies should be treated with conversation, not violence, and that officers who used tear gas should be punished.
In the same way, Oluwatosin Adeyemi, the Lagos State Coordinator of the Take-It-Back Movement, spoke out against the police action in a statement.
Instead of listening to the people’s real cries, the police used tear gas, violence, and arrests. He claimed, “Several protesters were hurt, including one of the protest leaders, Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto.”
“Protesting peacefully is not a crime.” It is not okay to use force on defenseless people who are asking for justice.
The group asked for the release of protestors who were reportedly arrested during the rally.
People in Nigeria were also angry over the event on social media.
“Look at how the government treats its own people like criminals,” Ogedegbenge Olusegun posted on Facebook.
On X, @Okoroaforlaura tweeted, “Let them protest.” This is not a tyranny; this is democracy.
Abimbola Adebisi, the state Police Public Relations Officer, said that some of the protestors had been arrested. Two people, Taiwo Hassan and Dele Frank, were arrested for conspiracy and behavior that could lead to a breach of public peace.
She backed up the Commissioner of Police’s story that the demonstrators blocked the road and said that the two people who were arrested would be charged in court.
She said, “Because of these illegal actions by the violent protesters, the police later arrested Taiwo Hassan (male, adult) and Dele Frank (male, adult) at the protest site for conspiracy and behavior likely to cause a breach of the peace, threatening violence and inciting disorder, urging the public to cause a breakdown of law and order, blocking traffic, and unlawfully preventing road users from accessing the road, which is against the Criminal Law of Lagos State.”
“They are being looked at right now, and the law says they have to go to court within a certain amount of time. A white Toyota Canta with the license plate number Lagos LND 968 YL was stopped and taken as evidence. It had several loudspeakers and two generator sets on it and was said to have been used to obstruct the highway.
It was also found that the demonstrators were carrying a coffin to scare and disturb the quiet of the people.
The Lagos State House of Assembly, on the other hand, said that they did not ignore the demonstrators even though they were on break.
According to Stephen Ogundipe, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information, Strategy, and Security, the Assembly reported that legislators tried to talk to the demonstrators, but they refused.
“Four MPs were sent to talk to the demonstrators in good faith. However, they insisted on forcibly entering the Assembly facility, the statement said.
The House also said that one protest leader got extremely abusive and accused the police commissioner of murder, which it called a “unfounded and reckless” claim.
As of the time this story was filed, attempts to gain responses from Gbenga Omotoso, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, and Gboyega Akosile, the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, had failed.
About the Author
