Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin who is the Police Public Relations Officer of the Lagos State Police Command has offered explanations on why tear gas was shot at the #EndSARS memorial procession by men of the Nigerian Police Force, which happened at the Lekki toll-gate, on Thursday.
Speaking in an interview on Channels TV which was monitored by Africa Today News, New York, Hundeyin explained that the procession had already stopped and traffic was beginning to build up at the toll-gate. He said the police had to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd in order to relieve traffic at the spot.
The procession was put together to mark the second anniversary of the lives lost during the #EndSARS protest of Octobor 20, 2020, were security forces allegedly shot at unarmed, peaceful protesters who converged at the toll-gate.
Africa Today News, New York had earlier reported that the police had pointed out that as long as the procession did not stop there would not be problems, adding that the agreement was that the protesters would keep moving.
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Hundeyin submitted that some trouble makers wanted to breech the peace so the police swung into action.
He said, ‘Everything was going fine until they stopped and started laying the coffins on the ground and all. They were doing all these and traffic at the toll gate was building.
‘We needed to ensure that there was free flow of traffic in the area, because the agreement was that the procession would not stop, that was why we fired tear gas. After the crowd was dispersed, no single canister of tear gas was fired again.
‘Right now there is free flow of traffic in the area and calm has been restored.’
When the PPRO was asked about the protesters that were locked up in the black maria truck he said they had all been released.