The Federal Government on Friday deployed policemen and over 150 men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps to maintain law and order and possibly stop the Saturday proposed protest at the Lagos Lekki tollgate.
The government and the police had warned youths under the aegis of #EndSARS Season 2, to have a rethink and shelve the protests at the Lekki tollgate on Saturday.
The youths had vowed to conduct the protest following the decision of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry allowing the Lekki Concession Company to reopen the Lekki tollgate.
Some people under the aegis of #DefendLagos have also vowed to organise a counter-march against the #OccupyLekkiProtest demonstrators.
Both demonstrations, the government said, are illegal. The Minister of Information and Cultured, Lai Mohammed, had said that the government would not allow any protest under any guise in Lagos.
The #EndSARS protests had spread across the country in October 2020 to register the youths’ grievances against the alleged atrocities of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force.
The protest gained global attention, but turned violent on October 20, 2020, when some protesters were allegedly killed by security forces at the Lekki tollgate.
NSCDC spokesperson in Lagos, Seun Abolurin, said the Lagos Command had about 170 for intelligence and surveillance officers at the Lekki tollgate, and also placed on red alert.
