Following the commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS protests, the Lagos State Police Command has released the arrested protesters.
More than 18 individuals were taken into custody at the Lekki Toll Gate and subsequently moved to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) at Panti in Yaba, Lagos.
State Commissioner of Police Olanrewaju Ishola was on-site at the SCID to oversee their release.
In a tweet on Sunday, police spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin confirmed their release, stating, “All protesters in our custody have been released. CP Olanrewaju Ishola was on the ground at the SCID to personally see to that.” The #EndSARS protests, which occurred from October 1 to 20, 2020, were a reaction to police brutality, during which several lives were reportedly lost.
During the Sunday commemoration, some youths gathered at the toll gate faced tear gas and were rounded up by police.
In an interview, Juwon Sanyaolu, National Coordinator of the Take It Back Movement, and Omole Ibukun, Initiator of the Creative Change Centre, confirmed that Hassan Soweto, National Spokesperson of the Youth Rights Campaign, was among those detained. “Soweto and 17 other members of the #EndBadGovernance Movement in Lagos were arrested at the Lekki Toll Gate this morning. They were there to mark the fourth anniversary of the #EndSARS killings. Their current location is unknown. We demand their immediate and unconditional release. Peaceful protest is a fundamental right,” their message read.
Additional names mentioned by Sanyaolu included Remilekun Orunsolu, Olamide Thomas, Michael Adedeji, Adeseye Eshe, and Olamilekan Sanusi.
Omoyele Sowore, the presidential candidate for the African Action Congress in the 2023 election, tweeted that the protesters were arrested and assaulted before being put into a Black Maria van. His tweet stated, “The #PoliceNG has arrested over 18 peaceful protesters at #LekkiMassacreRemembrance at #LekkiTollGate. They subjected them to serious beating and torture while being temporarily detained in their Black Maria at the toll gate. Subsequently, they’ve moved them to the notorious SCIID station at Panti in Yaba.”
Another user, Frednardo da Vinci, shared a video on Sunday showing individuals chanting solidarity songs while being transported: “We have just been arrested at the Lekki toll gate where we marched out to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the victims of #EndSARS.”
Sanyaolu later confirmed that all the protesters had been released, saying, “All of the protesters have just been released. Thank you very much.”
