Nigerian police arrest protesters at Lekki shooting site

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The tax market was the scene of a fatal shooting of unarmed protesters by Nigerian soldiers on October 20.
The facility had been closed since the night of the shootings, but a judicial group – set up by authorities to investigate reports of police brutality and violent repression of #EndSARS protesters by the military – recently voted for its reopening.

#EndSARS supporters rejected the panel’s decision. Many consider the reopening of the charging port to be inappropriate and disregarded for the victims of the Lekki shootings.

A CNN team at the scene witnessed a group that was taken in a police truck amid a heavy police presence.

“We have the right to tell our fellow citizens who are not doing what is right that what they are doing is wrong. We must not lose our courage to speak in the face of oppression and brutality,” said Damilare Adenola from the locked window of a truck. police.

Adenola said he came to the protest on Saturday to show support for the organizers and observe the demonstrations, but was arrested when he refused to identify himself.

“I have told them that I will not lose my right to protest even if I am imprisoned – I will continue to speak because it is my fundamental human right,” he added. “Here our oppressors have trampled on our compatriot colleagues – on young colleagues.”

He continued: “I felt that this place should be turned into a museum – a museum of resistance and not a money-making enterprise. People have been killed here, so many people are in hospitals – their lives have been ruined. ”

Several individuals at the Lekki toll gate were arrested on Saturday and placed in police vehicles.

Two other people who were arrested appeared at another window of the police truck and told CNN that they did not know why they were arrested.

“I was picked up for no reason. No interviews, no one spoke to me. I was only detained while walking down the street,” said Emmanuel Oboji, a construction worker. “I don’t know what happened. I was raised because I was going to my country.”

The Nigerian government earlier this week asked supporters of the #EndSARS movement to submit plans for renewed protests on the ground.
The heavy police show of force seems to have discouraged protesters from gathering on Saturday.

Only a few protesters had arrived at the scene at the scheduled start time of the protest. Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Friday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck.

The SARS unit was set up in 1992 to fight armed robbery and was given extensive powers. Many of the officers did not wear uniforms or name tags and there were numerous complaints that they allegedly attacked the citizens and even committed the crimes that were set up to combat them.

The Inspector General of the Nigerian Police announced in October that SARS would be disbanded and its officers would be redeployed, but protests continued.

Following the October 20 incident, a CNN investigation found members of the Nigerian army and police fired on the crowd, killing at least one person and injuring dozens more. The military denied any wrongdoing, but made many changing statements about how it engaged with peaceful protesters that night.

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