By Abiola Olawale
There was an escalation of panic in Lagos State as operatives of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) reportedly arrested scores of individuals, marking the fourth anniversary of #EndSARS protests that broke out across the country in October 2024.
It was gathered that on Sunday, several protesters gathered at the Lekki tollgate area for a memorial rally to remember several individuals alleged to have died because of police brutality in Nigeria.
However, when the protesters approached the tollgate, they were resisted by armed police officers, who warned against rallying at the location.
The armed police officers subsequently shot teargas canisters to disperse the protesters.
Some moments later, another group of activists arrived at the tollgate for their #EndSARS memorial walk.
The police officers stationed at the tollgate arrested about 20 of them, including Taiwo Soweto, one of the leaders of the #EndBadGovernance movement.
Immediately after the protesters were reportedly arrested, they were allegedly locked inside a police van and whisked away.
The New Diplomat reports that on 8 October 2020, Nigerians took to the streets protesting alleged atrocities by the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) which was a unit of the Nigeria Police Force(NPF) established to fight violent crimes.
On 20 October 2020, at least 12 peaceful protesters were allegedly killed in Alausa and Lekki Lagos by security operatives. At least 56 people allegedly died across the country during the protests.
