The bloody face of a man who claimed to be an Uber driver, crying and pleading as security officials tried to forcefully push him into a waiting Black Maria vehicle, usually employed to carry prisoners, signposted another phase of police confrontation with citizens, on Wednesday, October 20, 2021, as Nigeria marked one year of the violent #EndSARS protest that engulfed the nation in 2020.
The image, which was beamed live on Arise TV, came as security operatives have fired tear gas canisters at protesters who gathered around the Lekki Tollgate area, Lagos, which has become the ground zero for such activities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial and political capital.
There were also reports of indiscriminate arrest by the police of several persons who were at the protest ground, including those who claimed to be passersby, during the event meant to mark the first anniversary of the alleged bloody shooting of protesters at the venue by both soldiers and policemen last year.
A lady seen inside a Black Maria, was complaining that she was not part of the protest, but was passing by when police operatives seized her, collected her two phones and forcefully pushed her into the waiting vehicle, even as she pled her innocence.
Reports say the protest, which commenced around 8am, went rowdy around 11pm, with Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu explaining that the arrests were being carried out to prevent the action from being hijacked by hoodlums to cause mayhem and bloodshed as was witnessed last year.
Odumosun, who explained that he extracted the promise of the organisers that it would be a two-hour protest that would begin from 8am and end by 10am, was already being hijacked by miscreants and thugs who had begun to join the protesters.