Some people suspected to be hoodlums on Sunday dispersed #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protesters who had gathered at the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in the Ojota area of Lagos State.
In a video seen by our correspondent on X.com, some hoodlums were shown wielding clubs, saying the protesters who had gathered for the fourth day of the protest must leave the designated protest ground or face dire consequences.
The hoodlums were said to be enraged that after the president’s nationwide broadcast, specific individuals still deemed it fit to continue with the ten-day protest.
A voice in the background of the video said, “All the police have run away. Start the car!”
It was gathered that another group, identified as the Peace Action Transformation, insisted on remaining at the protest ground until further notice after another group had appealed that they end the protest and heed President Bola Tinubu’s plea via a nationwide broadcast.
Before they knew it, the protesters, who were listening to an address by the police as they chanted solidarity songs, were instantly chased away by a group of hoodlums who emerged from the opposite side of the road.
A protester told LEADERSHIP, “The Ojota ground is empty as area boys have chased away the few protesters that gathered early on Sunday after the nationwide broadcast of President Bola Tinubu’s address. Although there were about 50 people that had gathered at the time, the hoodlums came with canes and chased us away while police and other security personnel were still there.’’
Before the dispersal of the protesters, one of the conveners of the Lagos Protest, Hassan Taiwo Soweto, accused the Lagos police of being diplomatic with the Pro-protest group.
The accusation was corroborated by Amilcar Cabral Ideological Movement Lagos Sheriff Sholagbade, who remarked,’’ The police appeared to be on our side, but they were not.
“The constitution recognises that we have freedom of movement and peaceful assembly without any definition of where you are to assemble or what we are to do when we gather.
“We don’t want anybody to gag us into doing what the state government wants. Our interest is to have a peaceful protest. Our interest is not for anything to be destroyed, vandalised, or for loss of life.”
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