EndSARS anniversary: Protesters dare Police in Lagos, Abuja, others

…as FG mulls compulsory psychiatric test on security agents

Nigerians especially youths and celebrities trooped to the street yesterday to mark the alleged Lekki Tollgate massacre through a memorial car procession in Lagos State, Abuja and other parts of the Nigeria despite police earlier aversion to any protest.

The protests took place amid heavy security presence to commemorate the one year anniversary of the #EndSARS protests that led to the disbandment of the Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police.

Several Nigerians and the organizers filled up couple of cars and buses, blaring horns as they drove through the toll plaza at the early hour of yesterday.

In commemoration of the first anniversary of #EndSARS, Activists, Deji Adeyanju and Omoyele Sowore  led scores of protesters in the nation’s capital on Wednesday.

Nigerian NewsDirect gathered that the protesters converged on Unity Fountain, Abuja, before trooping through the streets and heading for the national assembly complex.

Policemen were seen around the protesters but did nothing to interfere with their marching and singing as they marched on the to the National Assembly.

Similarly, the case was the same in Lagos as celebrities and activists joined a car procession at the #EndSARSMemorial protest at Lekki tollgate in Lagos.

This is despite a ban on protest in Lagos and the heavy presence of armed police personnel at the tollgate.

The celebrities and other activists who turned up at the tollgate with their cars were seen waving Nigerian flags from inside the vehicles and blasting the horns while singing solidarity songs.

Organizers had said, “In memory of those who died that day and those we have lost to police brutality, we will: drive through the toll gate from 8-10 am; blast our horns in unison as we drive through and wave our flags,” the leaflet read. “Innocent Nigerian citizens waved flags and sang till they were shot at, injured and killed. We must never forget.”

Nigerian NewsDirect had earlier reported that the Nigeria Police in Lagos, Ogun, Osun and others in the South West region had begun a show of force against any form of violent protest in the cause of commemoration of one year anniversary of the #EndSARS protests.

The organizers of the protest had announced a car procession to mark one year anniversary of the #EndSARS protest.

The police later reviewed their position on protest, saying they would only allow indoor and virtual events.

The Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, also cautioned residents, especially the youth against embarking on any form of protest without the approval of the police.

“If you want to go on vehicular procession, okay. They are not going to stop somewhere, come down somewhere and converge somewhere,” he said. “(I) want the criminally minded people to know that the police are up to take care of them.”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has directed the leadership of all security agencies in the country to conduct periodic psychiatric evaluations and drug tests on their men to forestall issues of human rights violations and extra-judicial killings by security operatives.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Mohammed stated this while briefing journalists in Abuja.

Mohammed added that the National Executive Council has mandated that all arms-bearing security agencies ensure they carry out the same test on anyone seeking to be enlisted.

He said, “NEC called on the leadership of the security agencies to ensure that persons recruited into arms-bearing security agencies undergo psychiatric evaluations and drug tests before enlistment and periodically after enlistment to ensure that the personnel is psychologically fit to carry live weapons and to identify behavioural tendencies that may require psycho-social interventions.”

He also chided the reports on the alleged Lekki tollgate shooting, particularly by the Cable News Network (CNN) and Amnesty International, describing them as fake.

According to him, “one year down the line, no family members of those allegedly killed have come out to testify about their claims and that there have been inconsistencies in the report on the number of those said to have been killed.”

He equally assured that compensations will be paid to victims of police brutality as recommended by the various panels set up across the country, adding that security agents also indicted during the panels’ investigations will be prosecuted.

The Minister’s remarks come on the heels of the one-year anniversary of the #EndSARS protest held across different parts of the country and in Abuja.