Cops haul up 31 participants at vigil for Covid-19 deaths malaysiakini.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from malaysiakini.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
SIMONKOLAWOLE! BY SIMON KOLAWOLE
It would appear setting up state police in Nigeria is now a matter of âwhenâ â not âifâ. What started as a campaign championed solely by south-west political and opinion leaders at the dawn of this democracy has gone on to win more disciples nationwide. Support is coming from unlikely quarters in the north, with many of the regionâs governors now in tow â even though they do not fully embrace the broader campaign for âtrue federalismâ and ârestructuringâ as championed mostly by southern leaders and their allies in the middle belt. The kidnapping and banditry up north are clearly playing the key role in persuading the northern governors that the time for state police has come.
#OccupyLekki: Sanwo-Olu never directed police to brutalise protesters, says commissioner
Sodiq Oyeleke
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has vowed to ensure that police officers who allegedly brutalised #OccupyLekkiTollgate protesters on Saturday are brought to book.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, stated this at a media briefing organised by the Lekki Concession Company.
The commissioner explained that Sanwo-Olu never directed the police to assault anyone, adding that the governor would not stand by and watch Lagosians being brutalised.
Omotoso said, “The governor is very unhappy with what happened on Saturday, that people were brutalized, and he has directed Police Commissioner Hakeem Odumosu to investigate the matter. Whoever is found culpable, I assure you, will not go without punishment. This is because Mr. Sanwo-Olu has said it loud and clear that he is not somebody who will abuse the rights of others.
#OccupyLekkiTollGate protesters arrested
There was widespread anger on Saturday following the arrest of 40 persons who protested peacefully against the reopening of the Lekki Tollgate Plaza in Lagos State.
The peaceful protesters were arrested on Saturday and locked up in standby Black Marias.
Police consequently brought them before a mobile court in Yaba for conspiracy, conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace and violation of COVID-19 protocols.
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing police brutality and alleged killings of #EndSARS protesters by soldiers at the Lekki Tollgate, had ruled that the tollgate be handed back to its operator, Lekki Concession Company, after forensic experts submitted their report on the October 20, 2020 incident.