The Lagos State Government has eased the curfew which was imposed on Tuesday to curb riots instigated by hoodlums taking advantage of the #EndSARS protests.
The curfew which was initially for 24 hours, will now be from 6pm to 8am.
Despite the initial 24hr curfew, there was violence and destruction the day after in reaction to security forces shooting at peaceful protesters.
However, this abated on Thursday and relative calm returned on Friday.
In fact, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had indicated on ARISE News on Thursday that the curfew would be lifted “Friday or Saturday.”
The easing of the curfew according to the governor was necessary for residents to restock on food supplies and other essential commodities and go about their normal business.
“On lifting the curfew, it is something we are monitoring on an hourly basis. Once we see that there is normalcy around the state, it is a pronouncement that we can make as early as tomorrow (Friday) to ease the lockdown so that people can have the means to stock up and to buy food.
“Once we see the streets are cleared up and all the agitation and high nerves have gone down, we might slow down the curfew by tomorrow (Friday) or next tomorrow (Saturday) at the latest,” Sanwo-Olu had said.
The governor said it was important to get economic activities running again in the state after the setbacks suffered due to the pandemic.
“We want to put this behind us very quickly. Lagos is not a state you stop activities for a long time. This is a state that runs 24/7 as it were and that is what we know our Lagos for and that is what we really need to get our Lagos back to,” he added.
The Governor went round the state on Friday to take stock of the the situation as a prelude to the rebuilding process.