Human rights organization Amnesty International, on Sunday, condemned the arrest of the #EndSARS memorial protesters.
Police authorities clamped down on the demonstrators who gathered at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos on Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS protest. The memorial was to remember those who lost their lives during the #EndSARS protests against police brutality in October 2020.
The youths were said to have gathered around 8:30 am at the toll gate with several banners and placards. They demanded the full implementation of the reports submitted by various judicial panels of inquiry set up after the 2020 protests.
In a terse statement, Amnesty International described the action by the Lagos State Police Command as unacceptable.
It states thus: “Amnesty International condemns the Nigeria police for the violent attack on people who assembled at Lekki Toll Gate to honour peaceful protesters killed during the #EndSARS protests against police brutality in Oct. 2020. The reckless use of tear gas and arrests are unacceptable,” the group said on X.
Earlier, a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, accused operatives of the Lagos State Police Command of arresting about 18 activists, including Comrade Taiwo Soweto.
Amnesty International condemns the Nigerian police for the violent attack on people who assembled at Lekki Toll Gate to honour peaceful protesters killed during the #EndSARS protests against police brutality in Oct. 2020. The reckless use of tear gas and arrests are unacceptable.
He described the protest as peaceful and alleged that police brutalised some protesters and detained some at the State Criminal Investigation Department in Yaba, Lagos.
According to him, the actions of police operatives were unconstitutional and unacceptable.
“Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto and 17 other activists have been arrested at the Lekki Toll Gate,” he wrote on X.
“They were brutalized and are currently being detained in State CID Panti by the police for commemorating the memorial of the Lekki Toll Gate Massacre.
“They were entirely peaceful and did not disrupt public peace in any way. We will do everything under the law to secure their release. This is unconstitutional and unacceptable.”
Comrade Hassan Taiwo Soweto and 17 other activists have been arrested at the Lekki Toll Gate.
They were brutalized and are currently being detained in State CID Panti by the police for commemorating the memorial of the Lekki Toll Gate Massacre.
Relatedly, demonstrators marking the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS protests against police brutality and extrajudicial killings at the Lekki Toll Gate have accused the police of brutalising them during the memorial procession on Sunday.
A handful of protesters had gathered at the Lekki Toll Gate, a spot now synonymous with anti-government rallies in Lagos State, to honour the memories of those who lost their lives during the October 2020 rallies but met stiff resistance from the police.
“We are protesters who wanted to mark the anniversary of #EndSARS but were apprehended by a group of policemen under the leadership of the commissioner of police,” one of the protesters said in a video posted on X by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong.
“I am right here speaking to you from a Black Maria brutalised and beaten by the police; my glasses were taken away from my eyes by a police officer without any provocation.
“We are asking today when it has become illegal to protest in this country.”
However, the Lagos State Police Command said the protesters did not write to seek police clearance and permission before embarking on the rally.
“Constitutionally, they should write to me as the Commissioner of Police of their intention to do so; they did write to us, and as such, any such gathering is illegal, and by extension, police will not allow it to happen,” the State Police Commissioner, Olanrewaju Ishola, told Channels Television.
The CP explained that the police authorities were not unmindful of citizens’ constitutional rights but stressed that while exercising their rights, they must prioritise the laws of the land over other considerations.
