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October 20, 2024
According to the protesters and eyewitnesses, the demonstrators were beaten and manhandled by police officers before being arrested.
The National Spokesman for the Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), Hassan Taiwo Soweto, and 17 other members of the #EndBadGovernance Movement arrested at the Lekki Toll Gate on Sunday morning were beaten by the police.
The protesters were arrested during a peaceful assembly to mark the 4th anniversary of the #EndSARS protests.
According to the protesters and eyewitnesses, the demonstrators were beaten and manhandled by police officers before being arrested.
The protesters, who had gathered to honour those killed during the infamous #EndSARS Lekki toll gate massacre, were reportedly holding a banner and a wreath when the police descended on them.
In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, Soweto recounted the ordeal, stating, “We were beaten, arrested, and thrown inside a Black Maria for simply holding a banner and trying to lay a wreath to commemorate the victims of the #EndSARS massacre.”
The protest at Lekki Toll Gate was part of a wider effort to remember the lives lost during the brutal crackdown on peaceful #EndSARS demonstrators in 2020.
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The Lekki Toll Gate has since become a symbol of resistance and a rallying point for calls for justice over the killings.
Apart from Hassan, others arrested include Remi Orunsolu (Remyte), Comrade Aghedo Kehinde Stephen, Adeseye Osopale, Prince Ogochu, Kingsley Uadiale, Ilesanmi Kehinde, Abiodun Olamide, Olamide Thomas, Micheal Adedeji, Adeseye Eshe and Olamilekan Sanusi.
Soweto said, "A group of protesters who wanted to mark the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS Lekki Toll Gate massacre were apprehended by policemen under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police in Lagos State.
"I am here speaking to you from a Black Maria and being brutalized. My glasses have been damaged, struck from my face by a police officer without any provocation. We were here today when the right to commemorate the dead has become illegal in this country. We were simply here to mark the passing of our brothers and sisters who were brutally killed four years ago at Lekki Toll Gate.”
"We are asking the international media and members of the public to prevail upon the Nigerian government and President Tinubu to stop further attacks on protesters in Nigeria. We are not going to give up, and we will continue to demand our rights," Soweto added.
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