The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Hakeem Odumosu, has warned Sunday Adeyemi, better known as Sunday Igboho, against organising any protests in the state.
Igboho has announced plans to host a rally in Lagos to raise awareness about the need of supporting the Yoruba nation's aspirations for actualization. The event was set for Saturday, July 3 at Gani Fawehimi Freedom Park in Ojota, as well as other venues throughout the state.
To avoid a repetition of last year's hijacked EndSARS rally, which resulted in a total breakdown of law and order, the police chief said at a press conference on Thursday, July 1 that the command would not allow any protests to take place.
In his words;
“Considering the negative effects and recurring agonies of the October 2020 violent #Endsars crisis, which resulted in massive destruction of public and private facilities, while some Police personnel paid the ultimate price, Lagos State cannot afford any security lapses, breakdown of law and order, or threat to public peace at this time. This is on top of the numerous police stations, barracks, and officers' personal property that were set on fire during this time.
Those horrific events are still with the Command. The so-called organizers will not be cajoled into making the gathering peaceful. The organizers of the #Endsars protest used the same phrase, which finally snowballed into a crisis with catastrophic devastation of lives and property. Their antics will not be tolerated by the police.”
According to the police commander, information collected reveals that one Elewe-omo, a transport union official in Ibadan, Oyo State, had finalized a plan.
“to retaliate against the event organizers for the death of one of his followers, who was purportedly killed by a Sunday Igboho group during a similar rally held in Ibadan, Oyo State a few years ago.”
He claimed that a group of unhappy individuals had made plans to infiltrate the ranks of the protesters in order to attack and loot the property of Lagosians.
"The command reiterates that no actual or rumored actions, including the aforementioned planned mega rally, will be allowed to shut down the state or obstruct the usual everyday operations of the good people of Lagos State." The effect of this, if allowed to happen, on the security, traffic, and economic activities of a cosmopolitan state like Lagos is better known than imagined.
It has also came to the command's attention that the rally scheduled for Gani Fawehimi Freedom Park in Ojota, Lagos, has been organized concurrently in LekKi Toll Gate, Ikoyi, Iyana-Ipaja, Ikeja, Surulere, Ikorodu, and other localities by some other yet-to-be-identified groups.
If allowed, this might be a catastrophic breeding ground for chaos. All of this, taken together, poses a threat to the state's law and order. The Command will not fold its hands and allow disgruntled elements to sabotage the peace of the state”.