No protest will be allowed at Lekki Tollgate – Police

The police in Lagos have said that no protest would be allowed to hold in the state on Saturday.

Hakeem Odumosu, the state police commissioner, said this on Thursday while disclosing the position of the command to the #OccupyLekkitollgate protest and the counter-protest, #DefendLagos.

Although the right to peaceful gathering and assembly is a right enshrined in the Nigerian constitution, the police boss said “allowing both groups to carry out their planned protests will be counter-productive.”

Mr Odumosu said the proposed #OccupyLekkitollgate protest slated for Saturday is being championed by some individuals and the command will disallow it.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported how some youth planned to occupy the Lekki tollgate following an order to reopen the tollgate by the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry.

A counter-protest was also moved by another section of the youth, using the hashtag; #DefendLagos.

“Permit me to state in clear terms that organising any protest in furtherance of the recent violent and destructive Endsars protest will be counterproductive to the ongoing series of inquiries and investigations into many cases related to the Endsars violence and the present security situation of the state,” Mr Odumosu said.

“The command has gathered intelligence that some hidden agents of destruction and shadow parties that planned and orchestrated the last Endsars violence have concluded plans to cause another set of mayhem in Lagos State and spread same to other parts of the country, tactically and spontaneously, like the recent violence.

“Premised on the available intelligence and due threat analyses carried out on the planned protest, the command perceives such proposed protest as a calculated attempt to cause pandemonium, brouhaha and massive destruction of lives and properties under whatever guide and such will not be allowed in Lagos State,” the Commissioner said.

Mr Odumosu further said the state was still “groaning” in the aftermath of the last ‘Endsars violence’ that left many lives and properties lost.

“It is therefore not reasonable to allow same to repeat itself in the state,” he said.

The police boss said another reason such gathering will not be allowed is due to the prevailing COVID-19 virus which is rampaging in the country, with Lagos being the epicentre of the infection.

“The Command, therefore, warns that, in as much as the police respects peoples opinions and human rights, no protest will be allowed in any part of the state as the security of lives and properties of the government and the good people of Lagos State is paramount and not negotiable,” the police boss said.