Lagos police commissioner, Idowu Owohunwa, has reacted to the viral video of heavy presence of officers at the Lekki tollgate on the third anniversary of the #EndSARS protest.
A memorial walk was yesterday organised to commemorate the Lekki tollgate shooting during the nationwide #EndSARS protests of 2020.
The walk was to mark the second memorial of the alleged Lekki shooting that took place at the tollgate and to honour those that lost their lives in the controversial encounter on October 20, 2020.
Commenting on the walk, Owohunwa who addressed newsmen at the 3rd Year Memorial of the #EndSARS protest at Lekki Toll gate on Friday stressed that citizens have the right to exercise their freedom adding that they have the right to be protected by the police as well.
He, however, said the members of the public visiting the site for procession must stay clear of any act that would put the security and peace of the residents at risk.
The Lagos police boss stated that some groups have visited the Lekki location for the third year anniversary of the #EndSARS/Lekki toll gate shooting, saying they coordinated themselves properly.
Owohunwa said, “It has been stable. We had one or two groups that came around here for procession and they have been working within our understanding of how it should be. As a citizen you reserve your right to exercise your freedom and franchise, we respect it, and we protect it.
“We do it in such a way that, in the course of doing that, the groups, members will not also be exposed to any form of danger. That is what we owe them and that is what we have done.
“But, then we also made it clear that for the overriding public interest, we will also not allow a situation where those groups conduct them in manner that will put the interest, security, the peace, around Lekki and environs and across the state into jeopardy.
“We also owe the state the responsibility to guarantee their safety. So we are trying to strike a balance and that is it so far, so good.”
The state’s police spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, had earlier warned that no gathering/convergence whatsoever would be allowed anywhere around the toll gate.
