The executive director of Enough is Enough, (EIE), Nigeria, and good governance activist, Yemi Adamolekun, has condemned the police for firing tear gas at citizens who gathered to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the #EndSARS protests at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, saying the action was intended to stop people from speaking about those killed during the 2020 protests.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News on Wednesday, Adamolekun said she and other activists had gathered at the toll gate on Tuesday to lay 15 bouquets of flowers in honour of those killed during the #EndSARS protests and other victims whose deaths were linked to the period.
She explained that the flowers represented the 13 people the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry found to have been killed or missing and presumed dead at the toll gate, Kolade Johnson, and other unidentified victims in Lagos and across Nigeria.
Adamolekun said security operatives repeatedly removed the flowers as they were being placed, while police officers subsequently directed the group to leave the area in front of the toll gate, despite the absence of traffic obstruction.
She said the activists eventually agreed to move to the side of the expressway to address journalists, but officers began marching and chanting before firing tear gas canisters at the gathering.
“We arrived to place flowers wreaths at the toll gate, and we had 15 bouquets of flowers for the people, so based on the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, nine people were judged to have been killed at the toll gate, four of them missing and assumed to have been dead. And so that’s 13 souls, then we added one for Kolade Johnson, who about two weeks ago was found to have been murdered around the time EndSARS tied, allegedly tied to a politician, and then we had a bouquet for unknown, those who died in Lagos and around the country.
“We arrived at the toll gate, and as we were placing them down, they were removing them, agents of Man O’War under the instructions of the police would remove them as we placed them down.
“They really just didn’t want anyone there talking about people that were killed at the toll gate,” she said.
“The police started doing drills, so they were marching, they were chanting, and just really making obscene noises. And shortly after, first there was one canister, that there was no gas. Then there was another one, had gas in it, and then before we knew it sort of in rapid fire succession. And not only were they shooting them, they were actually picking them up and then throwing them at us just to make sure that we cleared the space. So yeah, they really just didn’t want anyone there talking about people that were killed at the toll gate,” she said.
According to Adamolekun, no participant was arrested, but a young woman with asthma experienced coughing after inhaling the tear gas. Adamolekun added that the police offered no explanation for their actions, noting that the gathering involved about 20 people, two governorship candidates and journalists from several media organisations, and was intended solely to honour the victims and speak to the press.
“No, nobody was arrested. I mean, that would have been quite preposterous because there were no grounds, nobody was obstructing traffic, nobody was being obstructed, nobody was assaulting, I mean there was just nothing happening. It wasn’t a protest by any stretch of the imagination, we were just there to place flowers at the toll gate and address the press.
“But there was a young lady who I think was her first sort of outing or her first engagement with the police who was asthmatic and I didn’t think she fully kind of connected the dots between her asthma and the tear gas, so she didn’t leave the space quickly enough. She was coughing. Mr. Doherty was gracious enough to take her to hospital and she she did go home yesterday evening.”
Explaining that no explanation was given by the police authorities for the use of tear gas, Adamolekun said some participants suspected that officers received instructions from their superiors to disperse the gathering, adding that the action appeared aimed at preventing public discussion of those killed at the toll gate.
“No, not at all. I think what was clear for us was that initially the presence of the candidates actually threw them off a little bit. And beyond just moving us to the side, I would say they seemed to have been okay with us being there, but some of the other comrades that were there noted that they were then on the phone and they were getting phone calls and walked away.
“So, their perception was that maybe they got instructions from quote-unquote from above, as we like to say in Nigeria, and that’s when they then decided to disperse us.
“It was literally we were like 20 people, 20 people, two gubernatorial candidates in Lagos, press, talking to citizens, talking about people the Lagos state itself had agreed were shot at the toll gate.
“Let me say that I mean the obvious point is that they didn’t want people talking about it. People died and that is the fact, no matter what you do, no matter the tear gas, people were killed by the Nigerian state at Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020. Full stop.”
Describing the incident as evidence of shrinking civic space, Adamolekun said citizens increasingly faced intimidation and abuse of state power for criticising public officials, citing the arrest of individuals over comments about politicians and the Erisco tomato paste controversy. She added that public officials, including presidential spokespeople, often displayed disdain towards citizens they were meant to serve, undermining the principle that government officials are public servants.
“That has been an ongoing conversation from Buhari’s time about what in CSO lingua is called shrinking civic space.
“If you criticise even legislators, you criticise a house of rep member or state house of assembly member, they get the state to pick you up and have you arrested.
“There’s the Erisco case; just because someone gave feedback on tomato paste, you have her picked up because you don’t like that she spoke. So, generally an environment where there’s a lot of intimidation and abuse of state power and state resources to constantly let citizens know that if they don’t agree with what you’ve said, they’re quote-unquote those are the things that they’re the consequences for.
“And you see presidential spokespeople being very insulting at citizens, very disdainful about the people that they’re there to serve.”
Recalling that she was also manhandled by Man O’War officials at the toll gate during the previous year’s commemoration, Adamolekun criticised the authorities for repeating the same actions instead of allowing citizens to honour the victims. She said the incident was particularly troubling given the government’s efforts to advance policing reforms, arguing that the anniversary should have provided an opportunity to discuss making the police more accountable and responsive to citizens.
“Last year, when I was at the toll gate, I was manhandled by Man O’War just to drop flowers as well, also under the APC. And then this year, no learning from last year, again trying to stop people from dropping flowers to remember people that died. On the same day that you’re passing a bill.
“I think I understand that yesterday there was some action around the policing bill. Would that not have been a wonderful opportunity to talk about what you’re trying to do to make the police more responsive to citizens and more designed, more purposeful in its design, but no, rather we’re tear gassing citizens.”
Addressing outstanding accountability measures, Adamolekun said the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry found that soldiers fired live ammunition at unarmed #EndSARS protesters on October 20, 2020, describing the incident as a massacre.
She said meaningful accountability remained elusive because the state government had stopped short of fully accepting the panel’s findings, particularly the conclusion that soldiers opened fire on peaceful protesters.
“Lagos State did not agree with the findings, because the panel found that soldiers of the Nigerian army opened fire with live ammunition on unarmed, peaceful EndSARS protesters on the night of October 20, 2020, describing the event in context as a massacre, thus the language Lekki Massacre.
“People go to the toll gate to remember that day, unarmed. But each time the Nigerian state would respond with force. And that for me fundamentally just shows the state unwillingness to engage on an issue that is about the wellbeing and welfare of citizens in Nigeria.
“If the state fundamentally stops short of agreeing that people were murdered by the Nigerian army, then the accountability question that you’re asking then has a gap, because if we don’t accept what a panel that we have set up has presented to us, that’s where it stopped, because they’re then unable to move forward, because moving forward will have to accept and acknowledge the fact that the Nigerian army did shoot Nigerian citizens.”
Considering a formal complaint, Adamolekun said documenting the incident in which police fired tear gas at #EndSARS anniversary participants at the Lekki Toll Gate would help preserve the facts, even if legal action was not pursued. She criticised the silence from the Lagos State Government and the police over the incident.
“Legal action, we always try. But someone did suggest that to me in an earlier interview today and they said maybe it’s worth just documenting it for for the record. But I think it’s worth it is worth documenting.”
Urging young Nigerians not to give up on civic engagement six years after #EndSARS, Adamolekun said protests and public pressure could drive change, stressing that building the desired Nigeria required daily sacrifices, active participation and refusing to be intimidated into silence.
“If anybody’s paying attention to global news, from France to Spain, to India, young people are on the streets protesting because they believe that it is better. And when you try to do it in peaceful, well, protesting is not necessarily always peaceful, but it’s taking anger and putting it out on the streets.
“And as I keep saying in this season that we’re in, we have to decide the type of Nigeria that we want and make the choices to ensure that we get that Nigeria. The choices are not going to be made by just talking, the choices are not going to be made by deciding that we’re leaving the country, the choices are going to be made by sacrifices that we choose to make in our daily lives, but more fundamentally deciding that I am Nigerian, as my dear friend, Aisha Yesufu would say, no Nigerian is more Nigerian than any other Nigerian.
“And we make those choices to show up, are not being intimidated into silence. It’s a choice, and it’s a choice that we must decide to make every day that we show up that this is my country, and I will speak for what I believe and for what I want to see in Nigeria.”
Favour Odima
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