Former presidential aspirant, Adamu Garba, has urged the men
of the Nigeria Police Force to release all protesters arrested on Saturday at
the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos State.
Garba, who said it was better to have peaceful protesters
than AK-47-wielding bandits, stressed that the arrested #OccupyLekki protesters
have the right to seek justice for all victims of the October 20, 2020 incident
which eyewitnesses claimed security forces opened fire on #EndSARS protesters.
He tweeted, “In as much as the #EndSARS protesters are not
blocking the way for other citizens to move along the #Lekkitollgate, the law
permits them the right to peaceful protest. After all, that is a tenet of
democracy which we practice. All arrested protesters should be released
immediately.”
Continuing, Garba wrote, “When will we ever learn in
Nigeria? Is it not better for people to express themselves in a protest than
hide behind any extreme motive to seek justice? I would rather have a peaceful
protester than a bandit with AK-47.
“If #EndSARS protesters promises to be peaceful, let them
be. If for any reason, an iota of violence is detected from them, the
authorities should quickly mobilise and disperse them.
“But as long as
protesters claimed to be peaceful, we should give them their right to protest
and protect them against possible hoodlums hijacking the protest.”
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing alleged
killing of #EndSARS protesters by soldiers at the Lekki toll gate, decided to
hand over the tollgate back to its operators, Lekki Concession Company, after
forensic experts submitted their report on the October 20, 2020 incident.
Four members of the panel including a youth representative,
Rinu Oduala, faulted the decision of the panel but the chairman of the panel,
retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, and four other members of the panel acceded to
LCC’s request to repossess the toll gate.
Subsequently, hashtags such as #OccupyLekkiTollgate and
counter-protest hashtags such as #DefendLagos and #DemNoBornYourPapaWell
trended online.
While the #DefendLagos campaigners shelved their planned
counter-protest, the # OccupyLekkiTollgate campaigners defied the orders of the
Federal Government, the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Police Force
that there should be no protest at the Lekki toll gate area or any part of the
state.
About 30 #OccupyLekki protesters including popular comedian
Debo Adebayo, also known as Mr Macaroni, were arrested on Saturday.
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