Pictures from DEFY THE DICTATOR Protest in Lagos
A detachment of policemen led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Mr. Tunde Sobulo, fired teargas indiscriminately at protesters marching from the state house of assembly towards the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota, Lagos.
During the march tagged, “Defy The Dictator,” the protesters converged on the house of assembly to demand the immediate withdrawal of soldiers from the streets of Lagos and the reversal of the pump price of petrol to N65.
The protesters then began to march from the assembly complex at Alausa, Ikeja to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park in Ojota, having obtained a permit from the state government to hold a rally there.
The park was the venue of five days of rallies, where various speakers spoke for five days against the removal of fuel subsidy.
However, they were warned by policemen not to go beyond the house of assembly to the park.
Led by a former Minister of Education, Prof. Ben Nwabueze; human rights lawyers, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite and Mr. Festus Keyamo, they defied the police warning and continued towards the park.
Speaking at the assembly, Braithwaite said the deployment of soldiers in Lagos was totally unwarranted while Nwabueze said it was unfortunate.
They were received by some members of the house, who said the deployment of soldiers was unacceptable.
They ran into a barricade mounted by the police and soldiers at 7Up Bottling Company on the Secretariat Road. The police also mounted a separate barricade on Ikosi Road, across the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as well as the nearby Kudirat Abiola Road.
The situation caused traffic jams in the Alausa and Ojota areas.
To stop the protesters from getting to the park, the policemen fired several canisters of tearsgas, forcing many of the marchers to scamper to safety.
The marchers returned again and sat on the road, refusing to move.
The protesters then turned back towards the Governor’s Office.
ARTICLE by Nigerian Eye
PICTURES: eloPhotos
