Lagos: Sanwo-Olu Issues Warning To Youths Planning #OccupyLekkiTollGate Protest

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos has warned youths planning a protest against the reopening of the Lekki Tollgate in the state.

Naija News reports that youths, unhappy with the reopening of the tollgate, have fixed Saturday, February 13, 2021, to protest with hashtag #OccupyLekkiTollGate.

The tollgate was the epicentre of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest against police brutality and bad governance in Nigeria.

Lagos State had witnessed the destruction of public and private properties during the #EndSARS protest, before and after the Lekki tollgate shooting by soldiers.

Reacting in a post on Twitter, the Chief Press Secretary to the Lagos State Governor, Gboyega Akosile, in response to a tweet with the hashtag #DontLetThemBringLagosDown, said “nobody will bring our dear Lagos State down! Their rights end where other people’s rights begin.”

The Lagos State panel had authorized LCC to takeover the Lekki tollgate after it concluded its investigation on the spot.

This comes weeks after the controversies surrounding the clash between #EndSARS protesters and security operatives at the tollgate.

The five out of the nine-man judicial panel had on Saturday voted to returned the control of the tollgate to the Lekki Concession Company, the operators.

Four members faulted the report of the forensic experts hired to comb the scene for evidence.

The four members who rejected the forensic report are the two representatives of the civil society – Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) and Ms. Patience Udoh; as well as the two youth representatives on the panel – Rinu Oduala and Temitope Majekodunmi.

But the chairman of the panel, retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, alongside Segun Awosanya (popularly known as Segalink), Oluwatoyin Odusanya (Director, Citizens Rights), DIG Taiwo Lakanu (retd.) (representing the police) and Lucas Koyejo (from the National Human Rights Commission) backed the reopening.