FG, Lagos prohibit #OccupyLekkiTollGate protest

…Organisers adamant

By Ayo Fadimu

The Federal Government as well as Lagos State government have  prohibited the #OccupyLekkiTollGate protest scheduled for Saturday over intelligence report that it will be hijacked and used to destabilise the country.

In separate media briefing on Thursday in Abuja and Lagos, both the Federal and the state governments insisted that the protest should not hold as there is enough report that some hoodlums will hijack the protest and unleash mayhem in Lagos.

In Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, at a media briefing to address issues on the proposed protest said based on intelligence at the disposal of the Federal government, some Nigerian activists have linked up with others outside Nigeria, including subversive elements, with a view to destabilising the country.

While admitting that peaceful protests are the constitutional rights of Nigerians,  the minister said violent protests will not be allowed.

“At this time, the chances that any peaceful protest will be hijacked are very high.

“Based on the intelligence at the disposal of the Federal Government, some Nigerian activists have linked up with others outside Nigeria, including subversive elements, with a view to destabilising the country.

“We cannot and must not allow this to happen.

“Never again will the Federal Government allow the kind of violence that was perpetrated across the country under the guise of the EndSARS last October.

“Never again will anyone or group be allowed to destroy cities or to kill and maim innocent citizens, including security agents, under any guise,’’ he cautioned.

The minister warned those planning to re-occupy Lekki Toll Gate on Saturday to desist, stressing that any further resort to violence in the name of EndSARS will not be tolerated.

“The security agents are ready for any eventuality.

“A situation in which six soldiers and 37 policemen were murdered in cold blood by hoodlums will not repeat itself.

“The attack, looting and razing of 269 private and public property will not happen again and the killing of 57 civilians will not be re-enacted,’’ he said.

The minister said many of those who have been loudest on social media in advertising the plan to reconvene in Lagos on Saturday were not in Nigeria.

He said they were elsewhere around the world fanning the embers of violence and inciting gullible people back home.

Mohammed admonished Nigerians not to fall for their antics, adding that government will not allow a repeat of the kind of destruction, killing and maiming wrought by the hijackers of EndSars protests.

The minister said the federal government is also keenly watching the role being played by the various social media platforms in the renewed clamour for violence in the country.

He recalled that the social media platforms were used to fuel the destructions during the EndSARS protest.

He therefore called on Nigerians to learn from the lesson of the past and not allow people to use the platforms to destroy the country.

For those  using justice as an alibi for the protest, the minister said they should file their complaints at the Judicial Panels of Inquiry set up by Lagos State Government.

“Like we have said many times, anyone who has any information on the alleged shooting or purported massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate, including the names and addresses of those who were purportedly killed, should head to the Panel to give it such information.

“This is how to enhance the search for justice, not by rabble rousing or engaging in media shows,’’ he said.

He stressed that while the government believed in the constitutionally-guaranteed right of citizens to engage in peaceful protests, it would not fold its arms and watch the country destroyed.

Similarly in Lagos, the state government during a joint press conference held at Ikeja by the Commissioner for Justice/Attorney General of Lagos, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, and Commissioner of Police, Mr Hakeem Odumosu.warned both the organizers of the protest and counter protest to desist as police will not allow any action to take place.

Odumosu said that the security intelligence gathered by the police command indicated that the “#OccupyLekkiTollGate” protest and planned counter rallies would degenerate into a breakdown of law and order.

According to him, the police will not allow any group to carry out the action.

He said that adequate arrangements on the deployment of security forces had been put in place to stop any violent protest, gathering and procession in any part of Lagos.

Odumosu said that the police command would rise in protection of law-abiding residents from any form of the violence.

“The police command has gathered credible intelligence that some hidden agents of destruction and shadow parties that orchestrated the last EndSARS violence have concluded plans to cause another mayhem in Lagos and spread the 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 Police Command perceives such proposed protest as a calculated attempt to cause pandemonium and massive destruction of lives and property under whatever guise; such will not be allowed to hold in Lagos.

“The decision of the command in this regard is in the interest of all and sundry in Lagos and to ensure that the statutory responsibilities of the Nigeria Police Force are not compromised.

“I, therefore, appeal to the general public, particularly parents and guardians, to discourage and warn their children and wards to ignore any unreasonable call or mobilisation for protest or gathering which runs against the existing peace and security situation of the state,” he said.

The commissioner for justice, in his remark, said that the government acknowledged the rights of the citizens to a lawful assembly and freedom to express their feelings as guaranteed by Section 39 and 40 of the Constitution.

Onigbanjo, however, said that the rights did not give any citizen the freedom to block highways and prevent other citizens from moving freely within the state.

He said that the government would not allow any group to push the state, once again, to the edge of carnage, hence, those organising the “Occupy Lekki Toll Gate” and “Defend Lagos” protests should desist from the planned action.

According to him, the state government’s respect for the citizens’ rights to protest should not be seen as a licence to break the laws.

He warned that any individual or corporate organisation that incites an action leading to the destruction of public and private property would be prosecuted and be made to pay damages.

The Attorney General also said that the public health crisis occasioned by the spread of deadly variants of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) should discourage anyone attempting to assemble people for the planned protests.

He urged all groups to consider COVID-19 protocols that limit public gathering not to be more than 50 persons.

Onigbanjo, therefore, directed the state’s Police Command to stop opposing groups from holding rallies in Lekki and any other parts of Lagos.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy said that the steps taken by the state government on the planned protest was not to take away the fundamental rights of the citizens, but to prevent re-enactment of the event that led to destruction of public and private assets in October 2020.

Omotoso sued for peace, urging the organisers of the planned protests and rallies to allow the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry conclude its investigation on what transpired between the military and EndSARS protesters.

“We believe this kind of tension and anxiety being brought forward by the planned protest will not allow the panel to do a thorough job.

“If the authorities allow the protest and counter rallies to go on, there would be a breakdown of order and Lagos is not ripe for such action.

“It is on this premise that the state government is appealing to all parties to thread with caution. Both sides have the right to express their feelings, but the time is wrong,” he said.

In the meantime, organisers of the planned protest at the Lekki tollgate have said the ban on cryptocurrency accounts among other reasons triggered their action.

They gave the reasons in a press statement made available to our correspondent titled, ‘EndSARS Season 2; Why we will #OccupyLekkiTollGate on Saturday – Campaigners’, on Thursday.

According to the statement, the cause of the planned protest is beyond the ruling of the Lagos State Judicial Panel probing alleged killings of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020.

The organisers explained that they are undaunted by threats by security operatives and counter-protesters under the aegis of #DefendLagos.

The statement read, “After commiting genocide by killing scores of people who were peacefully protesting at Lekki Tollgate and other parts of Lagos, Governor Sanwo-Olu and other oppressors wants to spit on the dead and dance on the blood of the innocent by reopening the yahoo gate to be collecting their blood money as again.

“We say NO! We are undaunted! We will be occupying Lekki Tollgate again starting from Saturday February 13. We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to storm back all the barricades as our rulers have shown that they can never change. Since the #EndSARS, they are yet to effect any of the promises. Police brutality is still raging and SARS is still operating.

“Despite overwhelming and highly compelling evidence showing how several protesters were shot by the military, no single military personnel has been brought to book.

“Deaths have been established and many victims of the Lekki shootings have surfaced, yet neither the victims nor families of our deceased colleagues have got justice.

“After close to five months of sitting, the judicial panel meant to inquire into the Lekki massacre has refused to deliver justice to victims of the massacre most of whom have either lost their limbs due to gun wounds or have become deceased.

“Government has refused to provide employment for young people, yet they went ahead to ban the most promising source of income of young people; cryptocurrency.

“Nigerians are extremely poor and yet the cost of food is on the high side with increased cost of electricity that only produces darkness. Petrol price is being increased as marketers want it at #190 per litre.

“Nigerians are no longer secured in any part of the country; when they are not being harassed or extrajudicially murdered by police, they are being kidnapped, mimed and killed by bandits.

“Today, the life of cows have become more valuable than those of Nigerians even as our streets and communities have fallen to the rule of kidnappers and bandits.

“The Nigerian government now negotiates and enriches terrorists and bandits while chasing after, arresting, shooting and killing protesters.

“It is to this end that we call on you all to come out enmasse to demand not just justice for victims and fallen heroes of the October 20 killings but that all involved in this heinous criminality be brought to book. Come out to demand the right to life and to exist in a country that respects our rights as citizens, abhors police brutality/extrajudicial killings, provides us with security, decent jobs with good wages and other such socio-economic rights that come with being a citizen.”